Winry
As they scramble up over the ledge, the sound of many voices echoes off the cliff walls. When Winry looks over the top, the valley dwellers are filing hastily towards safety under the direction of an elderly man. Ed leans over and shouts "Oi, old man Gon!" The old man glances toward them and his eyes widen in shock. "What are you doing here? You need to get somewhere safe. The lava's coming!" Ed lifts his now nearly useless automail arm with a grimace "Yeah, I can't stop it until my arm is fixed!" Winry leans forward and calls out "Please, sir, could you lend me some parts?" The man looks even more surprised and slightly interested now. "Oh, you're his mechanic?" She nods, biting her lip. Ed vaults over the wall using his good arm and she climbs after him, taking the hand he offers. They scramble down the slope until they've reached the old man. "Could you take us to your shop, please?" Winry asks, blinking up at him.
"I know the lava's coming, but I need both arms to use alchemy so I can stop it." Ed adds. The man looks at Winry curiously and then replies "Alright, this way, then, hurry." They follow him through the streets and quickly moving lines of people into a tangle of narrow walkways between close-built, worn-out looking houses until he ducks into a doorway and they step after into his shop. The old man hurries to the table and begins opening boxes. "So you're the mechanic?" he asks again. "What's your name, young lady? Your work is incredible! Which parts do you need?"
"Um, thank you." Winry says, not sure which question to answer first. "Yes. My name is Winry Rockbell." she steps over to the table and peers into the jumble of parts inside one of the boxes. "Wow, you have some good pieces. I'll need one of these-" she points to a gear and old man Gon hands it to her. "And..." they pick through the boxes for several minutes, finding the parts she needs as the old man comments and questions her about Ed's automail. Ed sighs and taps his foot, trying—unsuccessfully, as one of them's broken—to cross his arms. Winry ignores him until she's gathered all the parts. "Okay, sit down." he complies.
"How long will this take?" He shrugs out of his jacket and she lifts up the arm, holding a screwdriver between her teeth and opening the panel on his shoulder. She takes the screwdriver out of her mouth and begins to work the smashed gear out of it's place. Suddenly a dark-haired young man comes bursting through the door, but she doesn't look up from her work. "Old man Gon! You need to get out of here-" he breaks off, staring. "Whoa, this is your mechanic? She's so pretty!" the muscles in Edward's neck tenses and he fumes at the newcomer. "What are you going on about? She's my mechanic! I don't keep her around for her looks." his tone is scornful and he tosses his head. Winry feels the urge to tug the now rather mussed golden braid that falls down the back of his neck. She jerks the gear free perhaps a bit more roughly than necessary. "Ow!" Edward yelps. "Winry!"
"You don't keep me around, anyway." she mutters under her breath.
"Huh? What did you say?" She sticks the screwdriver back in her mouth and sets the broken gear aside, grabbing the new one and sliding it carefully into place. "Nothing." She says shortly and rather indistinctly, around the wooden handle in her teeth. "Hold still." She fits the gear into place against the other gears, grabs a screw and quickly tightens it in place and closes the panel on the arm. "Okay, try it now." He lifts his arm off the table and rotates it at the shoulder and wrist a few times, then bends the elbow and flexes the fingers. He grins. "Great!" jumping to his feet, he grabs his jacket and pulls it on as he runs for the door. Winry jumps up and runs after him. Just as he reaches the door, it swings inward suddenly, smacking him in the forehead and knocking him backwards. "Gah!" she catches him under the arms, staggering back under the sudden weight, as a tall, dark-haired man with narrow eyes strides through the door. "Colonel!" she says in surprise, pushing Ed upright. "What the hell?" he groans, touching his forehead gingerly. "Watch where you're going, Colonel!"
"Fullmetal, what's taking you so long? We need to get out there." Ed frowns at him.
"How can you help? We're trying to prevent fiery doom, not spread it." Colonel Mustang looks offended. "I can do things other than flame alchemy, you know." Ed rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, right. Well then let's get going. Winry!" he turns toward her.
"Hmm?"
"You stay here with old man Gon. Or better yet, get outta the valley. Your skills aren't much good for this sort of thing." She raises an eyebrow at him, resentment bubbling in her throat.
"Oh really? Then what do you call this?" She grabs his right arm and waves it in front of his face.
"Gah! Okay okay, yeah, thanks." He pulls away from her and starts for the door again. "Just stay away from the lava, okay?"
"What, did you think she was gonna strip and go bathe in it?" the younger Milosan man asks with a scoff and a bit of a leer towards her. Edward's fists clench instantly and his mouth forms a hard line. "Hey, pal-" but before he can get out another word, Winry grabs the screwdriver off the table and whips furiously it into the man's head. He stumbles back into the wall with a cry of pain. "Winry..." Ed looks at her with furrowed brows, blond hair falling over his face and a little bit of blood still trickling from his lip. She waves a hand at him. "Just go, Ed. I'll be fine." He hesitates a moment longer, then frowns in determination and whirls toward the door. He and Mustang disappear into the smoky twilight. As the door closes after them, she picks the wrench up off the floor without a glance at the man eying her warily from the corner, and slumps into a chair with a sigh. "We should leave the valley." Old man Gon says. She shakes her head. "I want to stay here—Ed and Al are still in danger." The old man shrugs, then turns toward the younger Milosan.
"I think you'd better go ahead." The man nods and scuttles out the door without a word, and old man Gon pulls up a chair next to Winry. "Have you known those brothers a long time?" Winry sits up straight in her chair and folds her hands on her lap. She nods. "We've known each other our whole lives." He glances towards the window, expression grave.
"They've got themselves in a dangerous situation." She smiles at this, a little wryly.
"Edward's always reckless. I think they're always in dangerous situations, ever since they left home..." trailing off, she stands up and begins packing up her tools, tucking them away carefully in her pack. "They always end up okay, though. They've got each other."
"And you." A bright smile lights her face at this, and she feels a shiver of warmth in her chest.
"Yeah. Ed literally couldn't walk without me. I wish he'd stop smashing up his arm, though." Zipping up her pack, she slips the wrench inside her jacket and continues "What if I can't get there next time he breaks it?" She shakes her head. "Geez. He'll probably never learn, though. He's so thick-headed...at least Al is with him. He has more sense." The old man reaches over and pats her hand.
"I'm sure they'll be alright."
"Mmm." They sit in silence for a long while. Suddenly the floor shakes and there are cries from outside. Winry swings her pack over her shoulder and rushes to the window, leaning out. Old man Gon peers out beside her. She catches her breath at the sight—the lava is pouring steadily closer, spilling over the edge into the water. "Ed!" she flings herself away from the window and runs for the door.