When I first met her I knew in a moment

I would have to spend the next few days

re-arranging my mind so there'd be room

for her to stay.

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Garfiel's Automail was rustic and utilitarian like most automail shops, but what made it special was the smiling face of the woman Edward came to see. A few days had passed since the night he'd gone to her apartment, and he was dissapointed when she'd called the following day telling him not to come back to clean her tattoo, saying she'd found a way to care for it herself and didn't want to be a burden to him. What lifted his spirits was when she insisted he venture away from Soho and come to Alphabet City so she could examine his automail arm. Opting to take advantage of the late evening's warm weather, Ed took a long walk across town past the small businesses, restaurants, and gastropubs until he reached the corner of East Houston St. and Avenue A. Ed entered the shop as a few patrons were leaving with their arms and legs shining like new, the smell of oil and grease filling his senses, and a young woman with mocha skin and brown hair slicked back stood at the front counter; her eyes went slightly wide at the sight of Edward.

"Hi, how are you?" She greeted, taking in the pony-tailed long hair, tattoos, and 5 o'clock shadow that made up his rugged and handsome exterior.

"I'm well thanks, does Winry work here?"

The dark-skinned girl smiled.

"Another member of the Rockbell fan club. I don't blame you, she's kind of amazing. We're closing up soon though, did you have an appointment?"

"No, she said I could just stop in?" Ed asked a little nervously. The girl nodded in understanding and waved him to follow her.

"Come on, she's back here." He noticed then the clanking of metal on cement floors; her metal feet were bare. As he followed her behind the front counter and through an arched doorway, they walked down a hall with doors flanking either side, stopping when the hallway opened up to a large garage with arms, legs, hands, and feet of all different sizes lining the walls. Silver tables gleamed under low-hanging work lamps and in the far corner on a stool sat Winry Rockbell using a blowtorch on a few panels of metal.

"You've got a visitor!" Her co-worker yelled from their place about 40 feet away, and Winry stopped to turn. Setting her project down she stood to pull off her gloves and pushed her welding mask up as she walked over. Blue eyes met gold, and they both smiled.

"Hi." She breathed. "Thanks for coming out so late."

"Are you kidding? Thanks for agreeing to see me. I can never find time to see someone during normal hours, you're a life saver." Edward and Winry looked at each other for another quiet beat, before Winry turned to her friend.

"Thanks for staying late with me Paninya, this will only be a few minutes." Paninya nodded and shot her friend a sly look; she wondered if Winry might have a thing for this guy, and she would do anything in her power to help a seed grow as long as he wasn't a jerk. She just wanted to see Winry happy again, and turned to strut back up the hallway, leaving them alone in the garage together.

"Come in, have a seat." Winry said, not thinking in all her excitement as she grabbed Ed's metal hand and pulled him along to her workspace. "Lets have a look."

Ed's face slid into a cocky smirk. "Can't wait to get my shirt off huh?"

He grinned like a cheshire cat at his joke and she stood with a hand on hip, waiting for him to stop being sarcastic. Something about seeing her mildly annoyed with him was cute. The grey zip-up jumpsuit Winry wore with her blonde hair up in a long ponytail only added to her charm, and Ed wanted to very slowly pull that zipper down the front of her, over every arch and valley of her lean and shapely body.

He wanted to pull that zipper down with his teeth.

Rejoining the present, Edward reached behind his head to grab the neck of his faded black shirt and pulled it over his head and off. Nothing made him mentally fluff his feathers like a proud peacock more than the look on Winry's face when she saw him shirtless. He liked working out. He ran 2 miles every morning before opening the shop and worked out in his loft for an hour most nights, because he liked pizza a lot. He also liked the look on women's faces when they saw smooth skin, lean muscle, and washboard abdominals. Winry's reaction wasn't nearly as dramatic as the ones he'd gotten in the past, but her eyes widened a fraction and drank him in quickly, lingering just a little longer than they should before she turned away and curled a strand of hair around her ear. She was nervous again, but this time it was the kind of nervous Ed liked.

Winry had to tell herself to chill out considerably as she pulled on her black work gloves and grabbed a screwdriver. Her heart leapt into her throat only to be swallowed back down hard when that shirt of his came off. First it was the whiff of earthy, man smell that blew past her as his shirt breezed over his head, then it was that body that she knew was hiding under there judging by the strong build of his flesh arm and shoulder, and lastly it was the split second that her eyes landed on his face again afterward and the soft and smart smirk he wore. His eyes were sharp but kind, and he bit his lip only slightly having enough decency to try looking at least a little bit bashful. It only made him more charming.

Winry repressed the urge to start fanning herself with her hand; it had suddenly become sweltering in the garage and without thinking she pulled the zipper on her jumpsuit down to fall between her breasts before turning back to Ed after finding what she needed.

"Okay sit please." She said, gesturing him to a chair so she could stand next to him and examine his shoulder from above. She began tinkering with screws and pulling plates loose to get to where she needed to be, and after a few minutes reached her destination at the base of his right arm's socket.

"Yup, that's the problem." She said. "You've got a fair amount of rust accumulating where your arm and shoulder connect. It's creating drag. I can fix it, but I'll need to remove the arm to do it."

Ed hung his head with a loud sigh. It had been years since he'd had his automail detached, and having it docked was beyond painfull. The only thing that would make the experience even slightly more enjoyable was if she wore that jumpsuit again, and absent-mindedly unzipped it down a little too far again, and gave him a nice show of the sweat sliding down between her cleavage again. He donned a distraught look to cover for the images flashing in his mind's eye.

"I know." She said, reading the misery on his face. "But I promise to do it quick. Like a band-aid. We'll set you an appointment." He sighed again and acquiesced, knowing there was no other way. It was his own fault for not taking care of himself properly.

Winry turned and locked the shop door behind her before wishing Paninya goodnight and watching her trot away. She turned back to Edward.

"Which way you heading?" She asked.

"Lower West." He replied. He wasn't ready just yet to divulge where he was going, but he was curious to know where her next stop would be. "You?"

"Upper West." She said. Winry picked up her small backpack and shouldered it before wincing in pain a second later. She'd forgotten all about the healing outline on her back, and her bag had bumped it just a little too roughly.

"How's that doing?" Ed asked, as they started walking together to head West again. "Has it started itching yet? Whatever you do, don't scratch it."

"It's alright. I've gotten better at taking care of it myself since I can't ask my roommate for help. It hasn't itched too badly yet." They walked for several more blocks, finding it all too easy to fill the silence with small talk and before they knew it they'd reached the blue line.

"So I'll see you later this week." Winry said in reference to his appointment. Ed grimaced comically.

"Let the torture commence."

She smiled at his morbid joke before digging for her metro card in her pocket. When she claimed her prize she looked back at him, noticing the way his gold eyes seemed to shine through the dark like fireflies. It was difficult to tear her gaze away from them but she forced herself to, reminding herself not to fall prey to his charms the way she'd nearly done the other night at her apartment. She had to distance herself -for both their sakes, but it felt too impersonal to simply wave goodbye or shake hands. Ed sensed the moment and was tempted to hug her, but was worried that she'd tense up from being touched that way, so before Winry could move he leaned in and gave her cheek a friendly peck.

"Get home safe, Rockbell." Edward said as he watched her descend the stairs, and when she was out of his sight an intense squeezing on his heart flatted his hand to his chest and he scowled at the ominous feeling. He wouldn't know it, but it was the same thing that caused Winry to walk toward the train more quickly than usual, breathing deep to calm her rising fear with her fingertips lingering on the spot that his lips had grazed.

20 minutes and several avenues later found Edward walking down stone steps and entering a dark, underground dive bar known as The Devil's Nest. An old friend of his who tattooed at Alchemy part-time owned it, and it was Ed's favorite watering hole. Edward only took very brief notice of the pretty girls he passed as he entered and made a beeline for a seat at the bar; it was steady but fairly calm and he preferred bars to be that way. He hated clubs because the deafening heavy bass and the flashing lights made him relive his days in Afghanistan, and the all-too-familiar scene of drunken couples fighting reminded him of the nights he'd spent having screaming matches with his sauced former wife.

Ed sat at the bar with a scotch and doodled on his bar napkin like usual until his old friend appeared from a doorway behind the bar carrying a few bottles to stock while traffic was relatively calm. Black eyes perked up at the sight of Edward scribbling drawings.

"Where the hell've you been? Way to drop off the radar you dick."

Ed's mouth curled into a grin as he looked up. It had been several months since he'd seen the 32 year-old but he looked the same as he always had; spiky black hair, piercings, and the tattoo on his hand Ed had given him once their tours of duty were complete. He was an avaricious soldier, borderline obsessed with having the highest kill count of his squadron and was utterly fixated on getting what he wanted -a mission accomplished. He was strange, a little crazy even, but you definitely wanted him in your fox hole when shit went down. He'd earned the nickname 'Greed' while at war.

"I've been busy." Edward said with a shrug, knowing that feigning indifference would irritate his friend. Greed was unamused.

"Yea well it's not like I was waiting for you. Don't think I ordered the Lagavulin just for you or anything." He said as he ducked under the bar and produced a sealed bottle of his old commander's favorite single malt scotch.

"Whoa. Okay I'll come around more often." Edward said with wide eyes as he took the bottle. "How's life? Things good with Martel?" This earned some eye rolling along with a head shake.

"We had a fight and she's back at her moms house again. The womans crazy and she's taking me right along with her. " Greed said as he topped off Ed's glass and poured some for himself.

Ed raised his glass to clink against his friend's. "Join the club."

"I know I don't need to talk to you about crazy women."

Ed watched the scotch settle in his glass as Greed asked him how many years it had been.

"4." He answered, fighting down the anger burning in his chest.

"Have you heard from Noah?"

It was Ed's turn to roll his eyes. "She called me the other night, so fucking hammered she didn't realize what day it was. Thought she was calling me on her birthday like every year. You know she's called me three times this year because 'it's her birthday today'?. That's how gone she is, and now she's calling me during work."

"Jesus." Greed sighed, and leaned with elbows on the bar. "I wish I could help."

Ed shrugged and took another sip of his scotch, savoring the burn.

"Talking helps, I just feel bad for you having to listen to me go on about this when you've got your own shit to deal with."

Greed balked at him. "Are you kidding? The worst I'm dealing with is my irrational old lady freaking out every time she's on the rag and leaving, only to come back a week later. Compared to you, I ain't got problems pal."

Edward gave him a sad smile, resting his chin in his metal hand. Greed took notice.

"You forget a glove? I have one in the back if you need it." He offered. Automail had been around for many years, and only became controversial when engineers began modifying limbs to carry concealable weapons. Congress was being presented with a bill that if turned into law would require any person possessing automail to officially register with the government, but because of the prejudices and even outright violence that many automail carriers had been victim to over previous years, most were reluctant to reveal themselves.

Edward waved off his offer. "Thanks, but I'm okay. Heading home after this."

"You've been out all night exposed? You've got a deathwish buddy."

"Nah, I came here from seeing a client. She's gonna give me a tuneup."

"You found an engineer in a client? Lucky break. How'd you get her to see you so late?"

"Well, she was returning a favor. I made a house call to clean her tattoo the other night." Images of the evening flashed through Ed's mind. The welts marring the ink lines over her scars, the feel of her warm back under his hands, how pretty she was, stuffy red nose and all. His thoughts were broken by his friend wagging his dark, pierced eyebrows at him.

"A house call huh?"

"It's not like that."

"Sure it's not. Spill, is she a freak?"

"She's a client." Edward snapped a little too quickly. He relaxed a moment later, knowing Greed wasn't an idiot. "...There's something with her. I'm being very careful around her, she's …off."

Greed's questioning look made Ed continue. "She's got these scars, big scary things. They're really fucking bad. I'm covering them for her, but I swear every time I touch her she jumps out of her skin. I've never met anyone more self conscious about appearances, not that I blame her, they're pretty frightening."

"Damn, that sucks. She a hag?"

Ed shot Greed a disciplinary look and Greed shrank back. "What? I'm just asking, you said she had scars."

"They're on her back and she's not a hag, she's beautiful."

Greed's hand stopped as his glass was on its way to his mouth.

"Woahhhh, beautiful? You've got a thing for this broad."

"No I don't."

"Yeah you do." Said greed with a sly grin. "You like her."

"I don't get involved with clients."

"You sleep with dumb girls all the time."

"Don't get involved with them." Stressed Ed. Greed raised his brows.

"So you admit it then, you actually like her. Enough to have to tell yourself not to go there." Edward paused, unsure of how to respond and Greed pressed on.

"I don't know why you avoid any possibility of finding someone." Greed put his hands up in defense when Ed shot him an icy glare. "I'm not being a dick, I'm just saying stop torturing yourself already. You're not gonna get dealt the same cards again."

"You don't know that." He glowered as Greed moved to the tap to serve someone a Blue Moon.

"Highly improbable, Ed. Don't deprive yourself of your basic rights as a man, have some fun." Said Greed.

"You consider sex a basic right?"

"You don't?"

Ed shook his head and sipped his scotch. "She's not a 'have some fun' kind of girl. Something's with her."

"You think she's nuts?"

Ed thought for a moment and his eyes connected with Greed's.

"Maybe. She's skittish, but not from shyness. If I had to guess, I'd say she's afraid of something."

Ed left The Devil's Nest an hour later and began heading home. Head down, hands in his jacket pockets, he felt the pavement under his boots as he thudded along and turned left from Houston St onto Wooster. Ed usually avoided walking this block and would go out of his way to keep himself from it, but that night his tipsy and self-loathing subconcious propelled his heavy, mis-matched legs toward the plot of land he feared most. It was late and the gates were locked for the evening, but he didn't need access to obtain full view of the source of his sleepless nights. It used to be the nightmares were memories of his dying mother or the father who never wanted him. After those fell away the midnight terrors were images of war, watching one of his best friends die, watching the light fade from the eyes of the enemies he'd killed, or of learning of his wife's infidelity and the thought of her in bed with …him. But nothing affected him worse than what had plagued his thoughts for the last four years. He feared sleep, because when he closed his eyes he saw her. Her happy eyes, her bright smile. He heard her singing, he heard her laughing.

He heard her screaming.

The wrought iron gates were cool to touch, and his forehead rested on a black bar as Ed gazed through the spaces between, golden eyes settling on the grey stone only a handful of yards away. He breathed out and closed his eyes as a tear fell.

"Happy Birthday, baby."

A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing, it makes my day like you wouldn't believe. More on the way!