Luckily, this chapter wasn't as ornery as I thought it was going to be. ^^

DISCLAIMER: Ed Elric, Al Elric, Winry Rockbell, Pinako Rockbell, Alex Louis Armstrong © Hiromu Arakawa / Marina © author.

Key:

Normal text - speaking/narration

Italics - thoughts

Ch 11: Takin' Care of Business

I woke up––somewhat unwillingly––and turned my head a bit to the right..........to find Ed's replacement arm wrapped around my waist. The fullmetal alchemist nuzzled the crook of my neck and kissed me. "Good morning Marina-chan!"

"Morning!" I softly returned the kiss.

The door opened with a crash, signaling the female auto-mail mechanic's entrance. "GOOD MORNING LOVEBIRDS!!!!!" She strode over to the windows and tugged the blinds back, introducing brilliant sunlight to our eyes, who weren't all that enthused to meet it.

In response, Ed yanked the covers over both of our heads. "Dammit Winry! It's too bright! Put 'em back, put 'em back!"

She sighed in exasperation. "I'll give you guys a couple more minutes, but Marina, you said you wanted to learn to make auto-mail. Get your butt in the workshop no later than 5 minutes from now. Or ELSE!!"

"Yes ma'am!" The muffled reply came from underneath the covers.

After Winry left, I gradually pulled the covers back and sat on the edge of the bed, about to get up. Ed wrapped his arms firmly around my waist, effectively preventing me from leaving. "Meh, don't go yet."

"Ed, your auto-mail isn't going to build itself. Plus, Winry is right; I do want to learn how to build auto-mail, and I can't do that if I'm not in the workshop with her. Speaking of which...........I have to go. I don't want to get 'or else'd'. I have no idea what that means, nor do I want to find out."

Ed pouted against my back. "Awwww, fine. I'm not gonna have anything to do though."

"Go visit the rest of Risembool. I'm sure everyone wants to see you." I did a 180-degree turn, gave Ed a kiss, and went to join Winry in her workshop. She and I worked on Ed's auto-mail non-stop for two days, while Ed wandered around town.

Once we were done, the auto-mail had to be attached. At first, Ed made a fuss––connecting nerves is painful, apparently––, but Winry brandished a wrench. The alchemist then made a deal; he would stop complaining if I was close by. Winry agreed, and allowed me to connect the auto-mail left leg.

Ed grumbled, "Ugh, I want to regain my normal body and say goodbye to this pain."

"It would be such a shame to lose a money spender like you." Pinako remarked.

"Yeah. You don't have to go through the trouble of returning to your normal body. The smell of oil, creaking artificial muscles, and the roaring bearings––Auto-mail is so wonderful!"

"You machine freak."

"Do you have a problem with that, you alchemy freak?! Ready Marina? On three. One, TWO!" I connected the leg while the female mechanic connected the arm, and the alchemist was subjected to a massive amount of pain in a relatively short period of time.

"What the hell happened to 'three'?!" Ed managed to demand before passing out from pain overload. We let the alchemist recuperate on the couch. Everyone left, but I remained on the couch by Ed's head, watching him sleep.

Once he woke up, Ed flexed the joints in his auto-mail. "Thanks Winry!"

"Don't thank me, thank your girlfriend. If it wasn't for her, your auto-mail would've been done in about a week or more. She's a fast learner, I'll give her that much...............She pulled 2 all-nighters in a row, you know."

Ed turned to me and his jaw dropped. "Y-you pulled two all-nighters in a row?! OK, bed. Now."

"What?! I'm not even tired!" I protested indignantly.

"I don't care. Go to bed and get some rest!"

"I can't!"

"And why's that?" He demanded.

"Doofus, it's the middle of the day!"

Ed somehow pushed me up the stairs and locked me in our room.

"Go to sleep!" There was a flash of blue light as he transmuted the door shut.

"No!" There was a flash of purple light, and no flash of blue for a minute.

What the? Oh yeah, she can do alchemy now. I forgot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A few minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Winry and Al both sweat-dropped as they saw alternating flashes of blue and purple light, and heard our bickering. "I don't even want to know what their domestic disputes will be like." After a minute, Winry had had enough. She marched up the stairs, wrench in hand. "STOP WRECKING MY HOUSE!!!!" I winced as I heard Winry wrench Ed and give him a mini lecture. Then, "Marina!" I cowered in fear behind the door. "I'll spare you this time because you're a guest. But next time you won't be so lucky!"

"Duly noted!" Came the riposte. Once I made sure Winry had cooled off, I unlocked the door and walked downstairs. "Hey, Ed? Isn't it time to repair your little brother?"

"Oh yeah. Let's fix you, Al."

I shook my head. "I swear Ed, sometimes you have a mind like a sieve." He and I made our way outside while Armstrong carried Al.

"Are these all of the armor fragments?"

I answered, "I picked up as much as I could, and the rest were given to me by Lieutenant Hawkeye and company."

"You can fix him right away?" asked the Major.

"There's a trick to it though." Ed reached over and took the helmet off of the armor. He pointed to an eight-pointed star inside a circle. "See that seal there? That thing mediates between Al's soul and the armor."

"That was a close call there." Al commented. "If he had gouged out any more of the armor........."

"We have to protect that no matter what. It's the important part that ties Al to the armor."

Armstrong took a closer look. "It looks like it was written in blood."

"Yeah, it's my blood." Ed admitted. "I was pretty desperate..........."

"What?! What wonderful brotherly love! What an incredible bond you two share!" I sweat-dropped as the Major posed with pink, manly sparkles all around him.

The Elric brothers also sweat-dropped. "Can you move?" the older brother asked. "You're in the way." Armstrong's sparkles fell to the grass, totally ignored. "All right, let's do this." A clap of Ed's hands and a flash of blue light later, and the suit of armor was repaired, as good as new.