Chase the light,

whatever

and wherever

it may be

for you.

Chase it.

-TKG

A few days passed and Winry found herself standing in the small hallway outside Alchemy's door. She breathed deep, and pushed the door open into the studio to be met with low-level chatter and the soft buzzing of machines over Black Flag on the studio iPod. Sheska stood in her usual spot at the front desk, blowing bubblegum as her tattooed fingers flipped through a magazine. She looked up at Winry.

"Oh hey," She started. "You're Ed's client, Winry right?"

"Yea." Winry smiled and rolled a screw between her fingers in attempts to calm her nerves before pushing it in her pocket. "Is he here? I need to talk to him."

"He's with a client." Sheska started as she looked over her shoulder to the back of the studio. Winry followed her gaze and saw Edward and his client emerge from his booth and walk over to the tall mirror on the adjacent wall. The client was young, a man of no more than 18 and as he looked at the completed work on his upper arm his smile grew wide and his eyes became glassy. He exchanged more words with Ed before they disappeared back into the booth.

"He looks happy." Winry said, not only speaking of the customer, but of Edward as well. Sheska looked back at her and leaned on elbows casually.

"Yup. Ed's work is second to none. Part of what makes being tattooed by him so special isn't just his talent, its the experience itself. He always says that being a tattoo artist is half talent and half customer service; he makes genuine personal connections with his clients and it keeps them coming back. He really cares about people."

Winry considered the thought and agreed. Edward had made a lasting impact as a person, but she wondered how much authenticity he brought to their strange, quasi-relationship —whatever it might be. The look on his face the night she kicked him out didn't seem like someone who'd been caught red-handed. There was a defeated hopelessness about him, and she wondered if there was something there. She couldn't shake the feeling that Edward was more complicated than he let on, and maybe his passion for healing others forced him to hide away whatever was going on in his life. He seemed like someone who would sooner walk on hot coals before ever burdening someone else with his problems.

Sheska walked around the counter and lifted her shirt to show Winry her ribcage and the massive tattoo of a tree that adorned her. "This was the first tattoo Ed ever gave me. It was the first time I'd met him." She said. The intricate tree was tall with barren branches which twisted and climbed further than where Winry could see, disappearing under Sheska's bra and the roots reached below her skirt's waistline. As Winry examined it more closely she saw the name 'Boo Radley' on the tree's trunk.

"I'm a book worm." Sheska smiled. "To Kill A Mockingbird is my absolute favorite, I keep copies of it everywhere. Anyway, Ed was so great when he did this piece. I had just moved to the city and was feeling crazy homesick, and he was so professional and comforting, he became my first real friend in New York. I jumped for joy when he asked me to work the desk part time."

A cold thought dawned on Winry and her brow furrowed. "Does he make many house calls for his clients?" She asked, thinking back to all the special favors he'd done for her and wondering if there might be a motive. Sheska was as naturally perceptive as she was booksmart, and smirked at the blonde beauty.

"Ed's a people person so he becomes good friends with most of his clients, but you're different. He doesn't act like himself when it comes to you."

"How do you mean?"

"Well he's always talking about you, and lately he's been drawing flowers when he's in a good mood." Sheska said before blowing another bubblegum bubble and returning to her magazine. "He only used to do that when he was depressed or pissed off."

"Does he specialize in flowers or something?" Winry asked. It would explain why he had tracings of them everywhere. Sheska looked up from the glossy pages and gave Winry a curious look.

"I mean, he's great at them, but he doesn't do them for anyone. Any client asking for roses, cherry blossoms, you name it; he directs them to another artist. Everyone here was kind of shocked when we saw him outlining you for flowers." Winry bit back a gasp knowing that everyone in the shop had seen her scars, but her next thought stopped her from running away out of sheer humiliation.

"Wait, why doesn't Ed normally do flowers for clients?"

Sheska cocked her head to the side and almost gave a sarcastic response, but when she realized Winry wasn't being facetious her eyes widened fractionally and she pulled in a breath.

"Oh…I thought he would've told you by now? I guess you guys aren't as close as I thought."

A sharp barb sliced into Winry's chest, reminding her of the stormy night and all the things she still didn't know about the man who'd managed to elicit a quick kiss from her. Sheska's tattooed fingers drummed lightly on her closed mouth as she looked back at Winry in thought.

"…But then again…" She continued to theorize, "…He's tattooing flowers for you…"

"—Well this is a surprise." Edward interrupted as he walked upon the girls' conversation as his client went around the counter to pay. Sheska turned away to do her job, but kept an open ear as she counted the bills Edward's client handed her to put in the lockbox. Edward would've forced a smile out of politeness, but found himself unable to muster the gumption for even a task as small as a smirk. Seeing her standing in his shop looking smart and sexy in her fitted jeans and loose v-neck only further simmered his anger at his ex-wife. He'd come to the realization that he was ready to move on —he wanted to move on, but couldn't. He'd managed to start a new life for himself but couldn't rest his demons because of Noah and her near constant state of inebriation always reminding him of what he'd lost. He had never been given the proper time to process, because she was always there, smearing his failures across his consciousness.

"What bring's you in?" He asked as he stood with thumbs hooked in his pockets casually, still happy to see her despite being thrown out of her apartment and into the rain. Winry twisted a lock of hair nervously.

"Can we talk?." She said. Ed nodded, before turning to thank his client for coming in and shake his hand. Once the coast was clear, he turned back to Winry.

"Follow me back." She moved after him but felt a hand hook under her elbow to pull her back.

"You better be the real deal." Sheska said low in Winry's ear. Winry stood motionless, watching Edward walk as Sheska's warning filled her ears. "You better be smart Winry. Edward likes you. If you don't feel the same you better keep it real with him. And If you do like him …well then you better not fucking hurt him." Her grip released and Winry caught up with Ed, rubbing her arm where Sheska held her and looking back over her shoulder at the spunky receptionist, who was back to reading her magazine as if nothing had happened. Ed was sitting on his rolling stool sanitizing his station as Winry entered his booth.

"So, what's up?" He asked cooly as he wiped down every surface with alcohol-soaked paper towels.

"I… I feel bad about the other night. I feel like maybe I should've given you a chance to explain yourself before I threw you out. It's the least I can do to thank you for returning my planner." Winry said, thinking back to the following morning and all the notes she'd scribbled into the planner during her phone call to the detectives. Her ex had been released on parole, but he seemed to be doing his part by calling in regularly and keeping out of trouble. The only thing still worrying Winry was how she couldn't prove it was him following her the night she ran to Edward for help. A text from an untraceable number and no other eye witnesses could do her no good. Edward was the only witness, but she couldn't pull him into her mess. Her ex had already ruined her life enough, she wouldn't let his craziness affect someone else, especially not someone she'd come to care about.

Edward sighed dejectedly as he wrestled with what to do, and it didn't help that he'd made eye contact with Jean across the room who was holding up a sheet of paper with the words 'TELL HER' scribbled across in black sharpie. Havoc and Greed had both heard the story of what happened the night of the storm, and tried with no avail to convince Edward that being honest with Winry was the best shot at making things work with her. He didn't want to hear it.

"There's things about my life I'm not ready to share. I get the feeling you might be in a similar situation." He said, thinking of her scars and blatantly obvious PTSD. She nodded slightly, before reminding herself that she needed to be firm with him but not aggresive; she still needed him as a client and she needed him to finish her tattoo. Against her better judgement, she liked him; and it was becoming more and more obvious that the feelings were mutual. But she would not be played for a fool, so without hesitation or mental filter, she blurted what she needed to know.

"Are you in a relationship with someone?"

Edward paused before rising from his seat to look at her. He knew if he had any hopes of keeping her around, he needed to at least be up front with how he felt about her; though he was still trying to figure out exactly what his feelings were.

"No, I'm not in a relationship. I promise. That phone call the other night was someone from my past who I'm trying to keep there, she's just making it difficult." He looked down into blue eyes and it happened again —that strange shift in the air that made the rest of the world fall away, and he wanted to kiss her. He pushed down the urge and opted for something less intense.

"Are you busy tonight? Wanna meet me for a drink?" He asked, feeling the precarious nature of the rickety limb he'd just walked out on, but he found relief in her soft smile.

"Sure, I'm closing up at 10."

Edward leaned into Winry and pressed a small peck to her cheek, sending a wave of warmth through her and as they parted ways some invisible force coaxed his left hand and her right to come together for a promising squeeze before releasing.

Winry was alone in the shop, closing up for the night when a loud pounding came from the front door. She nearly jumped out of her skin, and looked towards the glass front door at a woman in distress. The woman continued to hammer on the glass, and Winry strode forward quickly to unlock the door and open it ajar.

"I'm sorry, we're closed. Do you have an emergency?" Winry asked the woman. Her height and weight were similar to Winry's, but her features stood apart. Her hair was deep chocolate, falling over her shoulders and down her back in a thick mass of waves and tangles. Mocha skin was smooth and spot-free, but lacked healthy vibrancy and her large dark eyes were sad and hollow with circles framing from below. She paused as she stared at Winry -her sad gaze shifting to anger and she gave the door a violent shove, knocking Winry to the floor as she stormed in to stand over her.

"What the hell's so special about you?!" The woman hollered with fists shaking at her sides. Winry gaped up at her from where she lay on the shop floor, frightened and unsure what to do. The woman wore a simple blue sundress with no pockets, so it didn't appear that she was armed.

"You think you can just waltz in and ruin everything?!" The woman screamed. Her eyes became wide and wild as she shifted back and forth from foot to foot, shaking angry fists and pointing fingers in a manner nothing short of grand-standing. "Well you can't. You're nothing fancy. You're not gonna break us, we got history. We're a family. You think you can win his attention with your blonde hair? You think some big boobs are gonna get him hard? Think again bitch!"

Winry carefully got to her feet and pulled her phone from her pocket as the woman began to pace frantically, driving her hands into her knotted hair and muttering under her breath. Winry opened her Safetrek app and pressed the button once before letting it go, knowing that help would arrive any minute; she just had to keep the woman occupied and at a distance.

"Who are you?" Winry asked carefully. The woman stopped her pacing and scoffed, obviously offended.

"If you think I'll believe that you've never heard of me then you're a dumber floozy than I thought. You know who I am."

"I promise I don't. Why are you here?"

The angry woman barked in response, "I fucking told you! Back off! He's MINE, you understand that?!"

"Who's yours? I don't know what you're talking about."

The woman stomped forward and shoved Winry again, this time driving her into the nearby table's edge before Winry's knees gave out and she fell to the ground once more. The crazed woman stood over her and grabbed Winry's arm in a vice grip.

"I'm talking about Edward."

Footsteps sounded from the doorway.

"Hands up! Now!" Yelled a police officer from the entrance. Winry turned her head to tell the officer the woman wasn't armed, but never got the words out before a heavy blow to the side of her head dulled her focus on the world and she slumped to the concrete as the police officer and the woman became a scuffling blur. There was some cursing, the distinctive clicking of handcuffs, and a strong voice radioing for help when Winry's mind went dark.

A/N: Look what I did there.

Thank you all for the reads and reviews. More on the way.