If you are willing to do something that might not work,
you're closer to being an artist.
-Seth Godin
Ed's eyes opened and for a moment he'd forgotten where he was. The room was empty with blue walls and old wooden floors in bad need of sanding and re-varnishing. There was no furniture, only three large trash bags overflowing with clothes and a couple suitcases in the corner of the room. Sunlight peered through cheap blinds and the small tv on the floor droned on in the background. When he felt a stir next to him was when it came flooding back. He'd been rendered awe-inspired by Winry; to say she had gumption would be saying not nearly enough. She had balls, and when he'd seen how much she was willing to do for him, —the risk she took for his sake, he'd felt his heart latch on and that was it. He recalled the night he'd first told Greed about her, and how Greed had asked if she might be crazy. It was confirmed to him that Winry was undoubtedly nuts because her bravery completely blocked out any concern she should possess for her own well-being. Ed's eyes found her sleeping form lying next to him on the mattress and he breathed out.
She was crazy and brave and strong and he'd never been more obsessed with her.
Edward rolled over carefully and pressed a kiss to her cheek to wake her, her blue eyes fluttering openly lazily before slowly becoming aware. Winry's first whispered words were not what he'd expected.
"…Did we have sex?" She asked carefully. Ed glanced down.
"I don't think so. We're both wearing pants."
"Oh thank God." She said, sitting upright. Edward's quizzical brow made Winry stumble to clarify. "—Not like that, I just mean last night wasn't supposed to be about sex —not to say I wouldn't want— oh crap I'm such a mess right now."
Edward's amused grin quieted her ramblings, she was flustered and so utterly human and it further drove home just how incredible she was. To have the gaul to face her greatest fear just for him, and then turn around the next day and be so charmingly befuddled. His smile grew.
"You're a beautiful mess." He said,
"But a mess nonetheless." She said, eyes traveling over to the empty wine bottle from the previous night.
He slid closer and kissed just below her ear.
"I like it."
Winry's concern for how much wine she'd consumed or the state of her morning bedhead suddenly faded from her consciousness as she turned and let him kiss her again. That night had been more intimate than she was prepared for despite not having sex; true intimacy was finding someone to lay in the dark with and confess your deepest fears to. In Winry's perfect world she would meet someone, have a few nice dinners, and when he'd earned it she'd let him slide his hand up her thigh in the car before going back to her place for some tasteful, shirt-on lovemaking followed by talking about the following weekend's brunch plans and never EVER mentioning her past or her scars.
Edward Elric had fucked that up mercilessly. There were no nice dinners —not even nice drinks, and he'd earned the privilege of feeling her up a little by finding a way to make her comfortable enough to bare her soul without leaving her standing there afterwards wondering what the hell happened. Winry had previously debated wether it be roguish charm or devious manipulation until she realized she held all the cards, because not once did the idea of sex with him scare her. Hypnotic and sexy as he was, she had never felt powerless around him despite the brief period where a previous life had left her suspicious and fearful of all men including him. Ed's hand found her back and pressed her to him as his kiss deepened, and the low groan that escaped from him brought Winry back to rational thought and she broke off gently.
"Sorry," He said, immediately worried he might have done something wrong. "Every time I've tried to do that we got interrupted. Feels good to finally win."
His sheepish grin was too perfect and a small part of Winry cursed it for turning her world upside down, because there was something she was still terrified of that Edward clearly wasn't considering.
"Don't apologize, its not that I don't want to… we just shouldn't right now. He's still out there, and he knows who you are. He knows where to find you."
"Not if I stay here." Ed replied with a suggestive eyebrow wag.
Winry stood and paced the barren room. "He's watching somehow, we both know that. If he sees you coming and going from here then we're fucked, and I wanted to move again just to be safe but I don't have the money for that. I barely scraped together enough to get here."
"Is that why this place is empty? Where's the stuff from your place uptown?"
"I sold everything, and when you didn't charge me for finishing my back I was able to use that money to relocate." Winry attempted casual indifference to being reduced to her few meager possessions but Ed was no fool, and anger burned in his chest. He stood and his hard, assessing eyes found her.
"We need to relocate you." He said, taking her hands in his. "Sheska rents a place down in Battery Park, its small but I'm sure she'd be okay with you crashing on the couch."
"I can't involve anyone else in this mess. It's bad enough already, you got framed for murder!" Winry said, her mind started fitting the pieces together as she'd said the words out loud and that's when she knew her next move. It wouldn't be easy, he would fight her, but she saw no other way. She breathed, bracing herself to say what she hated.
"We can't be together, Edward."
"Don't be ridiculous," He scoffed. "This is a nightmare but we'll get through it, Mustang is gonna find this guy."
"You don't know him like I do." She said, dropping her hands from his and her heart tightened. "You need to disappear from my life completely. He is WATCHING ME, we know that much. If he sees you come anywhere near me I don't know what he'll do next."
"But he—"
"Someone's already turned up dead. I can't afford to be selfish and put you or anyone else at risk."
Ed's gaze grew harder, and Winry found herself unable to meet it. Her heart constricted painfully and she breathed in full and slow to try and quell the dread that had wrapped around her chest and squeezed her tighter with each second. He moved and her face was held between flesh and steel as his eyes searched hers. Hardened assessment now bore a flickering of panic.
"You can't be serious, you're insane if you think I'm leaving you on your own. I don't care what happens to me."
Her eyes watered under his frightened scrutiny.
"…This never should have been your problem… My problems are fucking up your life." He softened at this.
"Win, my life was fucked up way before I met you."
"That's my point, you've been through enough. He's going to come after you again and—"
"—Stop it." Ed's golden eyes grew hard again. "You don't get to tell me about my life, no one does. I won't stand here and listen to your ideas of trying to protect ME, you got that? I don't need protection. If you wanna make me feel better, let me be your shadow as much as I can. He's only harassed you when you were alone, if he's smart he won't try anything while I'm around."
"When he sees you're out of jail he'll be furious."
"Not half as pissed off as I am right now." He barked.
Maybe it was hormones, or stress. Maybe it was her history of dating domineering men, or the romanticism of being a damsel in distress, but whatever it was, listening to Edward lay down the law made Winry want to jump him then and there and do things that went way past her previous notions of tasteful lovemaking with a sweet, harmless gentleman. She restrained herself.
"I have to do some tattoos today," He sighed. "so as much as I wish I could stay I can't. Do you need to be at work or can you come to Alchemy with me?"
"I have clients all day."
Edward felt the smallest wash of relief as he pulled his boots on and stood again. "Well at least you won't be alone. I'll put you in a cab and then head out, but text me tonight and I'll pick you up from work."
Winry's grimace didn't go unnoticed.
"I hate having people fuss over me. I can put myself in a cab after work and meet you back here so you don't have to go out of your way."
"Guess how many fucks I give!?" He shot back harder than he meant to."For someone as scared as you are you're being pretty blasé about all of this. Stop worrying about making me comfortable and worry about yourself for once. For fuck's sake you came crying to me months ago when we barely knew each other because he was following you, and now he's KILLED somebody but you don't wanna inconvenience me? Like you said, he framed me for murder, I think it's safe to say i've already been 'inconvenienced'. Oh, and I also don't give a damn if you don't like being 'fussed over', we're gonna do things my way until Mustang's unit finds Archer. If you don't like it, tough shit Rockbell. Get over it."
Winry's fearful eyes were swallowed by Edward's frustration as he watched a muscle work in her throat, and he was sure that his tirade had finally sealed the deal on an ass-kicking long overdue. But she surprised him yet again when she moved forward and threw her arms around him. That's when it occurred to him, of course she didn't like being the center of attention; her life as an automail engineer made her a strong person who took care of others. The concept of needing help herself would feel strange to her and when given time to consider her options she wouldn't weigh them rationally. The only times he'd seen her react appropriately to Archer's antics was in fight-or-flight situations where she was taken by surprise, and Ed's anxiety softened as his arms came around her, knowing that she trusted him enough to be afraid in front of him, enough to share her biggest secret, to let him be her protector. There was only one detail nagging at the back of Edward's mind that he knew he'd eventually have to tell Winry, but it would wait.
It would probably break her trust in him once she found out.
"So yea, basically I start school in the spring and my schedule will be insane, so I figured lemme do this now before May rolls around and I won't have time anymore. Any advice for me when I go?"
Ed's client had just turned 19 and was heading to Princeton's pre-med program with dreams of becoming a surgeon. Edward knew his family a little, having tattooed his father twice, and he buffed the tattoo machine in the same area several times to shade the area darker and sat back.
"Yea, stay away from women. They complicate everything." He swiped away some excess ink and blood with a damp paper towel and resumed.
"Sounds like you've got some experience there." The kid chuckled.
"You've got no idea."
Envy shuffled over after leaving the kitchen. "I'm heading out for lunch. Going to Shake Shack."
Edward looked to the front window at the dustings of white that covered everything and the snow that continuously fell. "You're going out in that?"
"The lines are shortest in shitty weather."
"True, I'm all set but thanks. Do me a favor though, check my phone."
Envy reached for Ed's phone on the opposite table and glanced at it before setting it down again. "Nothing. If you want I'll have Sheska reach out to check on things."
"Thanks Ve."
Ed had received a warm and shocked welcome from his staff when he'd arrived home, and spent the first half hour answering questions about how he'd been released from prison. Jean, Greed, Sheska, and Envy were leveled when Ed finally told them about Winry's history with Archer and how she'd gone to see him alone to get the information needed to prove Ed's innocence. The matter had officially become personal for all of them, and they were now looking out for Winry just as much as Ed, because she had risked it all to save one of their own.
When Edward's client was finished and left it was 6 pm and Edward sat down to call Winry, but she didn't answer her phone so he Googled the shop number.
*Garfiel Automail…Paninya speaking.*
"Hi Paninya, it's Ed …Winry's friend. Is she around?"
*…Ed?… Oh! You're her tattoo artist right? The one with all the nerve damage?*
Edward gave a stiff nod at the painful memory. "That's me."
*I remember you, yea she's here. She's in the middle of a port surgery right now so she can't talk, want me to give her a message?* Paninya handed the change to a customer she'd rung up for a small can of oil and waved goodbye as they left.
"Just let her know I called to check in. Have things been quiet over there?"
A patient screamed in pain from the surgery room and Paninya smiled a little. *I don't know about quiet, but average. It's an automail garage, noise is normal.*
"I was planning on picking her up from work tonight just to make sure she gets home okay."
Pannier fell quiet for a moment
*That's really sweet of you, Ed. You're a good guy for being so nice to her. It's been a long time since someone treated Winry right.*
"So you know about Archer?" He asked.
*Know about it? I was practically there. I was her emergency contact, I arrived at the ER before anyone else. She's never been the same since Frank tried to kill her and… and I just want her to smile the way she used to. She's almost there, you know. When you gave her that tattoo I saw the old Winry for the first time in years.*
Edward heard Paninya's voice tighten on the phone, and it squeezed something in his chest.
*She told me that you don't draw flowers for people, but thank you for doing it for her.* She said. Edward swallowed a lump in his throat and breathed.
"I care about her. She's become really important to me."
*Can you protect her?* Paninya whispered, suddenly worried Winry might hear. *Can you keep Winry safe?*
Edward's metal fist closed and he remembered the secret he still kept from Winry, how far he was willing to go to protect her.
"I won't let anything happen to her. I swear it."
10 o'clock and the snow had stopped falling. Barely four inches had collected on every surface —enough to make footprints and slippery surfaces but not enough to deter any motivated New Yorker. The city streets were already plowed, the sidewalks already shoveled, life resumed. Winry had just finished putting away the last of her tools and closing the garage, she was in the store front wiping down surfaces and was preparing to lock the front door when it opened and a customer stepped in.
"H-Hi." He stuttered. "You c-closed?"
He was a smaller build —taller than Winry but not by much— and his frame wasn't very meaty. He shook a little where he stood.
"Not quite," Winry answered. "Soon though, can I help you?"
The man looked around, seemingly unsure of what to say. His large green eyes wandered the counter top and wall-mounted shelves behind her and he pushed his hands further into his pockets.
"It's cold out there, huh?" Winry asked, seeing the way he stood shivering with hunched shoulders. The many looked at her only for a second before glancing away from her soft smile.
"Yep, pretty frigid out. I uh… I was hoping to get some information about automail. My… my sister just lost an arm. Bacterial infection."
Winry let out the anxious breath she'd been holding. Of course he was shaky and nervous, he'd just watched his sister go through the trauma of losing a limb, and it wasn't unusual for people to feel strange coming into automail garages for the first time. Especially with the controversy over weapon-modification in artificial limbs.
"Of course." Winry said, "Don't be nervous, I can give you all the info you need. My name is Winry and I'd be happy to guide you and your sister through the process. And don't worry, I don't put weapons in any of my client's limbs, I'm against that sort of thing."
The man smiled stiffly.
Winry turned to go to a cabinet behind her. "Lemme grab you some pamphlets, you can take them home to show your sister—"
A cold, clammy hand was gripped over her mouth and Winry felt the tip of a gun barrel press against her temple as she was dragged back against a body. It was the nervous man's.
"Don't scream. Do everything I say, or you die."
Across town Edward's phone chimed with a message from Winry:
[I'm stuck at work late, don't worry about coming to get me. Garfiel is here, he's gonna drive me home tonight.]
Cold, shaking fingers were helpless in her attempt to keep her phone as Winry was forced out the back door and into the snowy alley behind the garage. The man had ripped the phone from her grasp and smashed it against the back of the building, obliterating it to crushed pieces that lay in the snow.
"Walk to the end of the alley." He ordered, gun still pointed at her. A single street light provided low illumination for the alley before it opened up into the darkness of the abandoned lot next door. It was far enough from the surrounding closed businesses that her screams wouldn't be heard if she'd tried, dark and set back far enough from the street that no passing cars would likely notice a struggle. Winry was helpless, shivering in her jumpsuit and boots, thinking only of Edward and how right he was to want to stay by her side.
"I'm so sorry."
A broken voice interrupted her thoughts, and Winry turned slowly to face the man who now stood crying.
"I'm so sorry… he forced me to… he said he'd kill me… please forgive m—"
A steel hand vice-gripped the man's throat, cutting off his words with a sickening gurgle before fingers closed together and crunched the bones beneath. The man slackened, the gun fell, and his body was tossed aside.
Winry's knees gave out and she sank to the ground, her heart in her throat as she sat helplessly, frozen with fear as a single red light pierced the darkness and a shadowy figure moved, revealing Frank Archer.
But it wasn't him, not how he used to be. He'd been split in two, one half of him organic, the other half cyborg —completely automail. Fear paralyzed Winry as he moved closer, his movements unnatural and loud like the whirring of mechanisms. Archer's limbs were far from humanlike; the joints bolstered doubly, his shoulder extending farther than it should while his elbow hanged far lower than average. His hip and knee more of the same. His elbow extended out behind him by nearly three feet in length with steel piping; something Winry could only expect to be a gun of some kind that he could interchange his hand for. Such a skeletal frame could only be needed for something such as scaling large structures easily; it would explain how he got around unseen if he was climbing up and down the backs of buildings. He took another step, and another, until he stood not an arms length from her and simply gazed down at her sitting in the snow.
"…Frank…" She shook. "…What… What happened?…"
He gazed at her longingly, one dark eye full of sadness and regret, the other a bright red light behind a clear lense, piercing the darkness and gleaming off the steel surrounding it. He said nothing, and slowly opened his mouth.
A gun barrel met Winry's vision before he slowly sealed it away again. It was then very obvious why he did not speak, and hadn't spoken to her the entire time he'd be following her. He'd outfitted not only his outside but his innards with weaponry, and it made Winry's stomach turn horribly. In all her years, she'd never seen anything so terrifying.
Until his flesh arm revealed from behind his back, the missing evidence from all those years ago. The photos he'd taken of her bleeding on his apartment floor, the photos he'd taken of her screaming on the phone for help.
—A sound pierced the night, the sharpening of a blade. Automail raised to meet the low light and she was faced with it yet again. Attached to his arm was the knife he'd used.
He had every intention of using it again.
Rushing blood roared in her ears, her lungs squeezing painfully, and Winry screamed.
A/N: Thank you all for being patient and staying with me. I'm trying my best to push through my busy schedule, and even if it means I can't update as frequently, I won't be uploading work I'm not proud of. My favorite chapter is up next, see you guys soon.