Disclaimer: You know, I rule, but not to the point of Rumiko Takahashi or Hiromu Arakawa….They are gods in my mind (me bowing and worshiping shrines of them. "I LOVE YOU!")

Chapter Sixteen

Auto Mail Repairs and a Junk Yard Heist

Inuyasha had been running for a while, carrying Kagome on his back. "Who am I going to make friends with?"

"Hmm…?" Kagome hadn't been paying attention, she was too busy thinking about the heist she and Inuyasha were about to pull off.

"Before, you said I was going to make a new friend. Who is it?"

Kagome blushed. "Now, don't get mad, it was a joke, but there's a dog at the place where we're going to get the metal." She smiled sweetly.

Inuyasha wasn't going to give. "Will you stop treating me like a dog!"

She pet his ears, stroking his ears and scratching them slightly. Causing him to calm and slow his pace to a stop.

Kagome sat on his back gawking at him from his odd reaction, but she didn't stop.

Kagome's giggling knocked him out of his reverie. Though, contrary to the usual Inuyasha, he didn't yell. He sat and let her continue, but he started to walk again, but only walking. "What were you girls talking about earlier that made you leave us for so long?"

He startled her, causing her to stop and pull her hands away from his ears. "Nothing much, we were getting to know Winry."

"What about her? I didn't get the chance to talk to her, what's she like?"

"I know that she and Ed are in love, she's an auto mail mechanic, and she's rather humorous."

"What else did you guys talk about?" Inuyasha looked down at her.

She averted her gaze and looked at the ground.

"Well?"

"…relationships."

"Between whom?"

"Sango and Miroku, her and Ed… and you and me." She looked up into his eyes, looking for acceptance.

He pulled her into another kiss. "Sounds like a good conversation." He looked at her with loving eyes. "We're almost at the well; do you want to stop at your house before we get the metal?"

"No, they'll get mad if we tell them why we're back."

"Where should I head when I get out of the well?"

"Head east, from what I've seen and what my mother's told me there is an older junk yard with loads of junky old cars, but there is a dog that protects the area."

Inuyasha leapt without yielding at all into the well. As soon as his feet met the ground, he leapt out into the well's shrine house. He flew out quickly and made it down the stairs leading to the shrine in three jumps. He sped off toward the east. "Alright, you gotta tell me when we're getting close, okay…?"

"Can't you smell the dog?" She was a little unsure of where it was, especially because they were in the dark.

"There's gotta be more than one dog in Tokyo!"

"Fine calm down! You don't gotta bite my head of, you know? …It should be the next place on your left." She crossed her arms in annoyance.

He slowed, turned around and smiled at her. "Thanks, Kagome."

She blushed deeply. She looked away from his face. For some reason that was unknown to her, she could never look at the people that make her blush through flattery.

They reached the junk yard to find a very pissed off dog barking fiercely at anything that moved. "You think he's rabid?"

"What's that mean?"

"Oh, god." She put her hand to her head, seeming to be looking for energy to draw out of some unknown source. The dog leapt up at the fence, ready to mar the people standing on the other side of the fence that was saving the world from it. "Inuyasha, I'm really sorry about this, but dogs seem to listen when I say this…SIT!" Not only did the dog sit without a second thought, but Inuyasha also got the oh-so rare feeling of kissing the ground.

He decided not to say anything, in fear of pissing off the dog again, but instead, he decided to send a death glare towards Kagome.

She responded to his death glare with a sweet smile. "Hey, it worked, didn't it? We should get the metal and some tools. The tools we can lift from home before we leave, but we have to get as much metal as we can carry for now." She hopped over the fence, pet the dog gingerly on the head, and started putting scrap metal into her bag. Inuyasha rose, glared at the dog, causing it to whimper, and started grabbing things like car doors and cutting them in half with his claws. After about ten minutes of gathering, Kagome realized with how much Inuyasha had gathered, they would be able to build a metal home. "Let's head back, will you be able to carry all of that?"

Instead of responding with words, Inuyasha chose to big up the humongous pile of metal with one hand.

"Whatever, wise-ass!" She spat as she struggled with her bag full of metal scraps. Inuyasha came over and grabbed her bag from her, then continued walking towards the fence and jumped it. Kagome sighed in defeat and scaled the fence with a little more difficulty.

They walked next to eachother the entire way back to the shrine in silence, but it was a pleasant silence. They would look over at eachother occasionally and smile sweetly. Once they reached the shrine, Kagome went into the house to grab a duffle bag and fill it with the tools that she thought would be necessary. She carried this one with difficulty as well, but Inuyasha didn't have anymore free hands, so she had to tough it out. They both had a little trouble getting in and out of the well, but that was to be expected considering the load that they were currently baring. They wandered back to where the others were camped.

Winry was the first to notice them. "Holy hell! That aught to be more than enough for Ed and me. Plus, we could also build a small building with an elegant water garden and a bullet proof wall surrounding it."

"Wow, that was sarcastic. You're starting to act like Ed, a.k.a. captain cynical." Al's statement was met by a chilling glare from both Ed and Winry. His reaction was to wave at them innocently.

"Where do you want these?" Inuyasha was getting impatient.

"Um, over between Ed and Al should be fine." Inuyasha and Kagome did what they were told. "Kagome, did you bring tools?"

Kagome opened the bag, revealing not only hand tools but electric ones as well, much to Winry's pleasure.

Ed automatically sent a scrutinizing eye toward Winry. "Winry!" She flinched, she knew what she was in for.

She smiled over at him innocently. "Yes…?"

"Don't take the tools apart until either Kagome says it's okay or until you're done with the procedure." He glared towards her.

She smiled manically. "Well Ed, judging from the damage on your leg; I have to remove it, start from scratch and reattach it, lucky your arm isn't busted as well, or you would be in serious pain." She finished with an evil smirk.

Ed turned ghost white. "Can't I just transmute a new leg?"

"Not if you want it to work."

Ed fell backwards in defeat and sighed dramatically. Miroku turned to Al in confusion.

"All of Ed's nerves have to be attached to the mechanism. It is a very painful process for brother to undergo. It takes a lot of his strength." Al looked to his brother with pity-filled eyes.

"Sounds painful! Good luck, Ed!" Miroku gave Ed a "thumbs up", immediately pissing him off, so he buried him…again. "It's good to see your sense of humor has improved." He spat derisively, Al unburied him again.

"Al, do you want me to fix you first?" Ed looked over at his brother with interest.

"Whatever, as long as I get fixed eventually."

Ed took that as a yes and requested that Inuyasha move him next to Al along with some metal. Ed touched the ground closest to Al and the metal and fixed his brother instantly. Al marveled at his repaired body and gave brother a "thumbs up".

"Thanks, brother!" He moved his arms to check his condition. "Very good… good as new!"

Winry turned to Ed with a sad smile. "Your turn."

The group prepared a cot in a tent for Ed to rest in and a desk- like structure for Winry to work at with a flashlight over it for her to work.

Winry removed the leg, with didn't cause much pain, but Ed had faith that the night could only get worse for him from there.

Winry had taken the measurements and had already started working on the new leg. Kagome and Sango had done all they could to help, but they didn't really understand what Winry was doing, so they mostly kept the boys occupied. Ed was allowed to stay near the fire until Winry needed him, so he wasn't completely bored. He was sitting next to Miroku and Inuyasha, while Sango and Kagome sat on the other side of the fire. Al and Shippo were sitting between the two groups around the fire. They were talking about random things for a hour or so before Winry beckoned Ed in for the leg, Al helped him in.

"Alphonse, go fetch some cool water and ask Kagome for a rag; Ed'll need it when I attach the leg."

Ed looked up from his spot on the cot. "You know, that's really reassuring to hear. You make this all sound so promising." He sent Winry an icy glare.

"Yeah, but this time, we don't have anything to dull the pain, no IVs, no nothing. So it'll be close to how it felt when you reattached your arm when you saved me from Barry the Butcher. Sorry."

"It's okay, it's not like we have many options here." He managed a weak smile for reassurance. "Let's get this over with."

Al returned and Winry soaked the rag and placed in on Ed's forehead. "Here we go. Get ready, Edward."

Ed stiffened in preparation for the pain. As soon as Winry attached the mechanism, a pain-filled scream filled the forest and chilled the air. Ed shuddered in pain and paled to a nauseating white. Sweat bullets started to form on his face and body. The Inu group peaked in to see Ed in dreadful condition. Al walked out of the tent and set himself up near the fire. He felt terrible that there was nothing that he could do to ease his brother's pain. The best thing for Ed at that point was to sleep and recover to regain strength. The others nestled themselves back around the fire, all save for Ed and Winry.

"Isn't Winry going to come out?" Sango noticed something was amiss with Al.

"No, she always stays near Ed during his limb replacements and repairs. She likes to keep a close eye on him." Al's gaze remained focused on the fire.

Kagome could tell he pitied his brother. "Well, he'll be out soon, right? Besides, there's nothing we can do for Ed right now; just has to rest up a little bit. He'll be fine." Kagome added a supportive smile to the end.

Al nodded somberly. He knew that what she had said was true, but he still felt bad about his brother's current condition. He desperately wanted to help him.