Chapter Thirteen-Injured

When Winry and May came out of the lobby to find no one there, the automail mechanic knew something was wrong. They wouldn't have just left. May finally noticed someone coming towards them.

"Alphonse?" The younger Elric staggered forward several feet before collapsing to the ground. May hurried over with Winry close behind her. "What happened,Al," Winry asked him. "Where's Edward?" As much as she hoped to get an answer, Alphonse had already closed his eyes and was out.

"Al..." May leaned over him more and noticed the cut on his forehead. She glanced up at Winry. "What are we gonna do?" The blond turned to look down the sidewalk. She was worried about Ed. "Winry, please." May's plea got her attention and she realized she would have to worry about Edward later.

"I'll call the General. It'll be okay." Despite all her fears, she got to her feet and headed back into the lobby.

oOoOo

Edward tried to talk only to realize his mouth was covered. He tried to get free but it was no use. Pride had completely immobilized him, holding his arms and legs tightly. Despite how bad things seemed though, he didn't stop struggling until he heard a deep laugh around him. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by a wide smile and several eyes staring him down. Between those eyes, the wicked grin and the utter blackness surrounding him, the entire experience was rather unsettling. The laughter continued, only making him more irritated.

"And here I thought you didn't have any fight left. I was afraid you'd gone soft." The mocking tone only fueled Edward's temper and he flailed even more. Razor sharp edges dragged across his back causing him to stop moving. The tension around his mouth loosened, allowing him to speak. He took in a deep breath practically gasping for air.

"What do you want, Pride?" Ed's tone was seething with hatred. He sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm down. He had to buy himself some time to think. Maybe he could get out of this, somehow. Something sharp grazed his forehead and he could feel blood sliding down his face.

"Oh, I've already got what I want." Pride stabbed Ed in both shoulder blades from behind, causing him to scream in response. "You should have never let me live. That has always been your one weakness. And it was just enough to keep me going till I got another body." Edward shook his head, letting out an angry sound.

"Then what are you waiting for. If that's what you've been planning all this time, then fine. Whatever." The homunculus paused, knowing there was more to it then just avoiding pain for the former State alchemist. After all pain was something he was all too familiar with. The threat of it was nothing to him.

"You're hiding something."

"What are you talking about?" Ed's tone dropped as he tried to keep from giving anything away.

"You would never give in this easy, you certainly didn't last time."

"How are you not getting this. It's simple...if I don't give you what you want then I die. So there's no reason to fight you." Pride took this into consideration but knew there was more to it then that.

"I still think you have another reason but even so I am still determined to make you suffer first for all you've done to me. And if you are hiding something, I'll find out once I take over. There will be no secrets then." Ed's thought immediately went to his wife.

'I can't let him get to Winry. If I don't give in now, he'll hurt her.' His jaw was forced open painfully, cutting his thought short and he realized Pride was not going to make this easy for him. Despite any discomfort though, he had to think. No longer being able to use alchemy, he couldn't do what he did last time. And Pride knew it so he had to come up with something else. Unfortunately the homunculus wasn't going to give him the time to come up with a solution. He narrowed his glare, wondering why Pride was hesitating. The last time he didn't take this much time to decide what he was going to do. But then that was on the Promise Day and he didn't have time to waste back then. As though the homunculus knew the human's thoughts, he snickered maniacally.

"Sorry for making you wait, I am just trying to figure out the most painful way to take over. And I can't have you passing out, that'll ruin my fun." Considering Ed's high pain tolerance, Pride wanted to make sure this was the worst pain he would ever experience. Inky blackness pushed down his throat, causing him to choke. Just as he was about to loose consciousness, Pride pulled away slightly. Edward coughed, still gagging from the sensation. For a second his mind went completely blank from lack of oxygen. "I do recall when we first fought, I was going to slice you up. I suppose that's a good place to start." Before Ed could even come up with something smart to reply with, he felt Pride rip through him with little effort. He bit his tongue, stifling the scream that forced it's way out. He wasn't able to raise his head to see his injuries but considering the stinging pain, it felt like Pride had fulfilled his promise. From what he could tell, the homuculus didn't stab him anywhere near a main artery, meaning he was determine for this to last longer then necessary. Slowly he could feel blood draining from his body. Before he lost too much though, something forced its way into each of the wounds. Pride felt like he was bigger then Ed's body could contain. It was like acid entering his veins, flooding his whole body. It was unlike anything else, pushing him to his limits. But regardless of that, he had to accept it. That was the only way he was going to survive.

He could feel himself slipping away, loosing control. His thoughts became distant, and it wouldn't be long before he was completely taken over. 'I can't fight him,' he realized. 'If I try to fight this, I'll loose everything.' As though in reply to his thought, the response was no longer outside of his body but like another thought completely separate from his own.

'You wanted to philosopher's stone for so long. I'm just giving you what you want.' There was almost a tugging at Edward's mind as if Pride was toying with it. 'I wonder what kind of knowledge I'll have access to now. Everything that made you who you are belongs to me now.' That was last thing Pride said before Ed was completely taken over.

oOoOo

By the time Alphonse was settled in the hospital, it was past midnight. With so much commotion going on, Winry still couldn't help but worry about Ed. No one had heard from him and it was bothering her more and more. She found herself staring out the window of Al's room at nothing in particular. There was a firm hand on her shoulder that caused her to turn her attention back inside. Roy smiled lightly at her.

"I've made arrangements for you to stay at the dorms tonight, okay?" Winry wasn't even sure she could stay by herself. Glancing over at May, she realized that asking her to leave now would be unfair to Al.

"All right. I am kind of tired after all. But if anything changes with Al, please May, give me a call."

"Okay I will. Here, take Shao Mei with you for company." Winry walked over and the small panda jumped onto her shoulder.

"Thanks." The automail mechanic smiled feebly back at her. Mustang picked up her suitcase and headed for the door, waiting for her to follow him.

"I'll drive you over to the dorms. Make sure everything is safe there." She nodded back and followed him out.

oOoOo

"So General, when you said you'd drive me, what you really meant was Lieutenant Hawkeye was going to drive, right?" They were now standing outside the hospital in front of one of the military's cars already running with Riza in the driver seat. Mustang laughed as he opened the front door for her.

"Well she is a better driver then me anyway."

"Hey Winry. How are you feeling?" The other woman in the car smiled at her.

"I'd feel better if I knew where Ed was." Winry dropped her gaze to Shao Mei who was staring up at her. "I feel like I've gotten myself caught up in the middle of a mess and don't know what I should be doing."

"At least you can rest easy knowing we won't stop till hes' found. Right General?" Riza's gaze shifted to her rear view mirror just in time to catch Roy off guard by her statement.

"Well all this for someone who's retired, I don't know if we'll be permitted to use all our resources." He scratched his forehead before noticing the dark gaze from up front narrow at him. He wasn't helping make Winry feel any better.

"Hey what about you two?" The blond's question caught both the driver and rear passenger to look her way in shock. "Are you two an item yet?"

"Yet," Roy questioned.

"An item," Riza came back with as well. "No, not really. Been too busy for that kind of thing, I guess."

"Yeah you really do work a lot, Lieutenant." The Flame alchemist laughed at her reasoning. He was glad he didn't have to explain himself though. She glanced back at him again, arching an eyebrow.

"Actually sir, I was talking about you." The car pulled up to the dorm just in time.

"Oh look, we're here." He had to clear his throat as his voice came out weakly. "Come with me, Mrs. Elric." Roy hurried out of the back and got the door for Winry. She said goodnight to Riza before following the General up to the second floor. Opening the door to the room, he immediately got busy looking through the closet and under the bed for anything suspicious. He had only experienced Pride a little in comparison to the Elrics and Riza but he knew enough to know to search everywhere.

"So why haven't you asked Riza out? She's really nice." Winry stood in the doorway. Roy dropped his shoulders along with his head and let out a tired sigh. She had not been the first person to ask him about his first Lieutenant but then he also realized she was just distracting herself so he humored her.

"I know she is. I just wonder if it would complicate things." Moving to the bathroom, he turned on the light and pushed the shower curtain back.

"I think you two would be good for each other." He smiled and laughed quietly to himself when she said that.

"You don't think we'd kill each other?" She shook her head in response.

"Ed and I manage to survive." That statement brought a smile to his face.

"Well maybe, if things ever really settled down, it would be different." He did one final look around the room and checked the window last, making sure it was locked. "Everything seems okay here." He handed her a piece of paper with his number on it. "This is the apartment, if you need to reach me tonight. I'll head over to the hospital in the morning to check on Alphonse."

"Thank you." He yawned in response, realizing it was getting late.

"I'll see you tomorrow." With that said, he left and closed the door behind him, leaving her alone. Sighing loudly, she glanced down at Shao Mei.

"I guess I should go to bed." The panda tilted her head to the side as though she was still trying to figure out why May had left her with this new person. Winry carefully placed her on the bed and opened the suitcase. Ed's clothes were on top and it made her heart ache. Finding one of his shirts, she headed into the bathroom to change. Once she brushed her teeth and got cleaned up, she turned the light off and got into bed. Shao Mei found a comfortable spot on Winry's pillow next to her head.

It had been half an hour when Winry turned on her side, realizing getting to sleep was going to take more effort then she thought. She found herself glancing out the window again. The moon seemed to be hanging low and was full. Being here alone just made her feel worse about all the uncertainty right now.

Where was Ed?

Was he injured like Al?

If he was okay then why didn't he come back?

Just when she was about to give into the notion that she was going to be up all night, something dark blocked out the moonlight.

"Hey Winry, open up." Edward tapped on the glass. She sat up, unsure of how he was even able to be up this high. But regardless of that, she hurried to the window and opened it, helping him inside.

"Ed, where were you? I was so worried." He wrapped his arms around her and leaned into her hair.

"Sorry bout that. I got caught up. Didn't mean to scare you." Despite how calm she had started out, Winry started crying into his shoulder. They stayed embraced until she managed to speak.

"Please don't do anything like that again, okay?"

"Alright, I promise." There was a low growl behind Winry on the bed. "What's that thing doing here?" He asked, releasing her and walking over to pick up Shao Mei. The panda tried to bite him and he made a face at it.

"May gave her to me, you know, so I wouldn't be lonely."

"Well can it spend the night in the bathroom?" He started in that direction anyway and closed the door once the black and white menace was inside.

"You don't have to be so cruel. She wouldn't have bothered you." He walked back over to her with a faint smile on his face.

"Maybe I had other things in mind other then sleeping." He leaned in and kissed her on the lips. He usually wasn't so forward as he guided her over to the bed.

"Ed, what's the hurry?" He caught the look she was giving him.

"I just realized tonight how much I missed you."

"I missed you too." Winry closed her eyes and leaned into his neck, sighing quietly to herself. She was just happy to have him back.