Fic: Prompt: "Like A Fever"
"Quit the stomping, Ed," Winry grumbled as she heard the thud of his irritated steps against the sand. A small cloud was forming around his feet, sand particles clinging to his shoes and his clothes. Some of them would sneak between body and cloth, rest against skin and against metal, creep into the crevices of the automail… and stay there.
"I'm not." Thud. Thud.
Winry rolled her eyes. They were both bored. Bone-tired. And nowhere near their destination. The water supply Ed had initially balked at carrying was three quarters down, and the quarter left was almost as hot as the air around them. Apparently, alchemy couldn't create ice out of sand - and to think Ed had called her pampered for insisting they take along some fresh water; they'd probably be dehydrated already if a quick jab to his midside hadn't shown him the logic of her suggestion. "I hope Lior has decent rooms," Winry sighed. She took off the wide-brimmed hat and fanned herself with it. She gave up soon after; the movement only brought the stifling air against her face. Thud. Thud. Thud. Another sigh - if she weren't exhausted, she'd be stomping her way to the city, too. "We'll need gallons of oil," she commented casually.
Somewhere between a growl and a whine, "I'll be fine."
"Please." Any other day, Winry would have wrenched him for giving so little consideration to her and her work. Luckily for Ed, she decided to save the angry rant for a place where she wasn't about to melt. "I can hear you creak from over here."
"I don't-!" A choked protest right before a louder version of the telling sound echoed between them. "The hell with it," he muttered, glaring at his left leg.
"You should have pressed for a vehicle," she said again. Winry knew it was a useless tack, that it had been useless from the moment Edward left Mustang's office with his new orders. Once more she wished the mission hadn't included this nightmarish trudge under the midday sun. She could feel her own sweat making her clothes cling uncomfortably to her skin. Not one point of relief since they'd started - if she woke up and discovered she'd been sick and hallucinating, she'd probably rejoice in the fact. "Even a bike would be good."
"And have it sink in the sand every minute. Really clever, Winry."
See? Useless. This particular conversation had steadily gone downhill since they left Central, from patient explanations to full-blown snide comments. "Right. Because geniuses know better than to take actual cars when crossing a desert. No - wait. They don't!"
He sighed. "Seen any cars lately? We were lucky that cart took us to the edge of the desert. Nobody around here owns one, and we must blend in. Mustang's orders."
Winry particularly disliked it when he was the reasonable one. They'd had this argument since they started, four hours ago, and she knew that they kept circling through the same questions and answers. Ironically, the knowledge didn't stop Winry from bringing it up more often the longer the journey - if she was going to suffer through a seven-hour trek through scalding sand while Ed marched on unblinkingly, then she'd make damn sure that he shared in. "Blend in? Right. Because you're perfect for that."
Amazing how Ed's face could redden so fast. His long coat fluttered in a circle around him, making the sand billow wildly as he turned to face her. "Who are you calling pea-sized runt that no Lior citizen would notice walking in their streets!"
((After Granny's death, it had taken forever until Winry could smile again. Not literally, of course; but in all the ways that mattered, it had been forever. First she'd been too numb, too shocked to do much more than eat what she was offered and sleep when she felt tired. It was like she was walking in somebody else's shoes. Fever dreams, she'd told herself over and over as she hugged herself. Just fever dreams and Granny would come soon and cure her.
But she didn't.
The doctor and his wife had taken her in. Poor girl, she heard them say. And every time he came close, all she saw was his hand around her grandmother's wrist… all she heard was his whispered explanation. Her heart, he had said. Pinako had been a strong woman, but her heart hadn't kept up.
Two weeks later she'd run away.
Not to Granny's house, no. She hadn't wanted to be alone anymore.
Instead she had run to their house. Because they were alone, too, and at the same time they weren't. They had each other. Maybe they could have her, too, and she'd only ask to have them in return. It seemed so simple a decision, just like choosing which metal alloy belonged to the construction of arms and which to the construction of legs.
It was easy. Too easy.
Years later, she could still picture herself as she must have looked like that night. Clad in her one black dress, the one that was already a little too tight (she'd bought it for their mother's funeral), her braid undone and hair wild around her face. She had flung the library's door open, knowing them to be behind it. And they had been. Candlelight and Ed's blond hair hidden behind the largest book she'd ever seen - the book dropped to the floor when he noticed her: that was the sight she remembered the most. Al's voice calling her name, inviting her in - he'd sounded so worried, so hesitant, so afraid to break her: that was the accompanying sound.
"Can I stay?"
They had nodded in unison. No hesitation at all. And she'd known - known - that she was home again.
She had smiled then, when forever finally seemed to settle into a specific night. She had smiled, maybe even laughed, and she'd run blindly towards them…
…and they had caught her.))
Winry had to fight hard not to laugh. Oh, Ed. Half a decade and more trials than anybody should have to face, and he was still the little boy who'd discovered that the next door neighbor was taller than him. "Actually," and she couldn't help the small grin, "I was being sarcastic."
"Oh." He deflated instantly.
Winry had taken two steps forward when Ed realized that sarcasm wasn't much better.
"Hey!"
She smiled to herself. For that one second, they weren't surrounded by miles of sand, they weren't on a military mission, they weren't the Fullmetal Alchemist and his mechanic. It was Rezembool again, and she'd just dropped a ladybug down his shirt - "Try and catch me," she murmured. "Come on, Ed," more loudly, "We must get there before you start on your chameleon act -" He was glowering at her back; Winry knew it just as she knew that his leg would need a check up upon arrival. "- and stop pouting. Doesn't look good on a State Alchemist."
"I was not."
Winry winced as he kicked against the sand. She could picture the angry particles accumulating between the layers of metal, attaching themselves to the automail parts and interrupting the seamless movement that made Ed's left leg her masterpiece. She could see it already, that she would not spend her first hours in Lior in a refreshing bath or a well deserved nap, oh no. She would be too busy keeping Ed in one place so she could take a look at his leg.
With a bucketful of oil at her side.
Meanwhile, unaware or probably indifferent to her thoughts, Edward plodded on behind her. Purposely loud.
Not for the first time, Winry wished she could calm Ed down and make him see reason - without losing her own temper in the process. Because she'd discovered the hard way that if she was angry enough, and loud enough, and… well, scary enough, then Ed would force himself into the mature role, leave aside all childish behavior and - irony of ironies - attempt to pacify her. It was too hot to be scary, though. Too wretched a day to be wishing for Al to be to voice of reason. "If that leg stops working and I have to carry you the rest of the way, I swear, Edward Elric…"
"You won't?" He looked unfazed by the idea.
And well he should. "Of course I would, you idiot." Because she'd never ever abandon him, not for anything. "But I'd also turn around and you can explain to Mustang why the mission wasn't completed."
Ed peered at her for a moment, then shrugged and moved forward.
She didn't say anything else either, falling into step beside him and going back to wishing Lior had decent rooms for tourists. Far ahead - too far, she thought - Winry could make out the gray walls that surrounded the city. Such a small place, it seemed. So removed from anywhere else. Why would it call the attention of the military? All Ed had said was that there were reports of 'unusual activity' in the area, and that said activity seemed to correspond with alchemy. Important enough to warrant sending a State Alchemist, but not to send someone higher up the chain of command.
It reminded Winry of days long gone. Shortly after her parents had died, Granny had started giving her small tasks in her automail shop. To keep her distracted, maybe, but soon the habit had become the beginning of her formal training.
These rumors about Lior were Mustang's idea of rusty screws needing replacement.
((After Alphonse's… disappearance, it was forever until they could function normally again. Forget smiling. Forget laughing. It took all of their strength to open their eyes every morning, and at night the nightmares of that night closed in on them mercilessly.
"I still can…. Yes. I still can…." Ed's whispers as he trashed in the bed. The movement made him whine in her sleep, as the bandaged stump scraped against the bedding. Silence and then a cry, a name. His brother's name. Fever dreams, for real this time. Winry stayed watchful as his temperature spiked and ebbed away again, spike and ebb…. The doctor didn't look hopeful, but even at eleven Winry knew that hope was a lot like alchemy: useless unless used correctly. She stayed at his bedside, and on one of those nights, with him half conscious and staring past her in hopes that Alphonse will come into the room, she made a pledge: never. Never would she let him go. Never would he be alone. And she knew - knew - that she would keep that promise until the end of time.
"I still can save Al," Ed said clearly one morning. The fever was gone then, and it was too late to save anybody.
"I'm sorry." Winry's responding cry. Because it was her fault. She hadn't been supposed to be there - both of them had told her again and again to stay in her bedroom. But she couldn't. Their mother's bed was immense around her, and the thought (the hope) that its owner might be coming to live some stories below…. She couldn't have stayed. No. They could have asked for anything except that she kept herself away on that night.
She had crept downstairs, sat by the closed door and waited. Waited for the noises to die down. Waited for the flash of light… and then there'd been a scream.
Only Edward had been inside when she rushed in. Only Edward and a pool of blood around him.
He'd been babbling about going back. Going back for Alphonse.
And she hadn't let him. Clung to him and refused to let him go.
Years later Winry still thought back to that decision. One little girl and the weight of the world, their world, on her shoulders. Winry remembered her choices: the possibility of recovering Alphonse, the possibility of losing Edward for good.
It had never been a choice.))
"I'd be fine, Win," he said suddenly. It was later, and the walls looked tall and imposing before them. It was so much later that she didn't have a clue what he was talking about. The confusion must have showed in her face, because Ed smiled briefly and raised his arm in a half circle around them. "A little sand has nothing on Rockbell mastery," he said, "Of course I'd be fine. I have the finest automail in Amestris," he patted a cloth-covered metal knee, "and the mechanic that matches. Or you think they'd let anyone travel with their best alchemist?"
She chuckled. Half because of his lack of modesty, half because she knew of the rumors in Central, the raised eyebrows every time someone heard of the teenage girl traveling alongside a State Alchemist. Even people who'd heard of Granny would look at Winry in complete bafflement, and she'd see in their eyes the same question she'd faced for the last years: Why are you with him? Why, when you could do so much better, be so much more? "And don't you forget it, Elric." She even wagged a finger at him, laughing when he did. "Where that leg goes, so do I. No exceptions."
"No exceptions," he echoed.
They crossed the gate at the same time, and once inside looked around - Ed, for any sign of something worth investigating; Winry, for that room she'd daydreamed about for hours. But despite knowing where their priorities lay, both their gazes locked on the fountain in the middle of the crossing.
"Is that…"
Ed had already dropped their oversized bottle. "Fresh water!"
Winry blushed as some passer-bys turned at the sound and stared disapprovingly as the water dribbled onto the ground. Luckily, most of them seemed transfixed by the deep voice coming from every radio around them; but Winry knew well that if anyone could attract attention it was one Edward Elric, and in her experience it never bode well for either of them. "Ed!" Embarrassed, she hissed his name - and reached out before he could make a fool out of himself in the middle of the city. She'd seen him after Izumi's lessons, when the boys would drag themselves into the house panting and willing to do anything for a glass of water. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could come between a thirsty Edward and the nearest source of water. "Don't." She barely managed to catch one red sleeve, but fastened her hand around it and didn't let go.
The force of her grip unbalanced him; but he quickly straightened. "But, Winry…."
"So that is blending in," she said. "I'll make sure to update Hawkeye."
Ed's eyes went round at the same time he docilely came to stand at her side, no more mad dashes in his plans. For all of Winry's threats to tell the Colonel of Ed's shortcomings, Ed knew that she'd never do it. Hawkeye's anger, on the other side, was a risk he didn't intend to take. "Nobody noticed a thing," he mumbled, and he scowled at a woman who was staring at them. "See?" The woman was walking briskly away.
Winry shook her head. "Good boy," and she patted his shoulder. "Now, let's find us a nice room." So far, she hadn't seen a single sign offering the usual commodities for the weary foreigner - no wonder, she didn't think people were eager to go across deserted miles of sand in order to get here. "There must be some place," she said stubbornly and gave a determined step forward.
"Difficult task, that one," someone whistled from behind them.
Winry swiveled around, and what happened next could only be attributed to surprise and the worst luck ever. She let out a small cry as her elbow hit against something hard. The something hard wobbled for a few seconds on its already feeble perch; then, before anyone could do anything except gape at the sight, it started its decent to the ground - not before it had knocked three towers of glasses the stand-owner had just placed there.
Even Ed flinched as the glass crashed. Everything seemed to stop at the square, and everyone turned to the scene. "Are you okay?" In a flash, he had turned Winry toward him and was inspecting her from head to toes. To herself, she thought it was a damn good thing that she'd traded her usual shorts for long pants for the trek through the desert. Otherwise, she'd surely have glass scratching her skin from knee to ankle. "I'm fine," she answered.
Ed looked her over again, and once he seemed convinced she was unharmed, unhanded her and put an aggravated hand to his forehead, "Now that helped to blend in. Thank you, Winry."
Winry felt herself turn red at the words.
"Miss?"
She felt even more flushed as she turned around and bowed her apologies to the owner. "I'm so sorry. I didn't notice I was so close to your… your…." It didn't take her professional eye long to discern what the broken pieces had been before she bumped into them. Neither did it take her long to know that the damage was mostly superficial, "I can repair it, sir."
The man looked at the wires and bolts strewn on the ground, then at her. "I…."
"It's a lost cause," one of the patrons intervened, shaking his head at the mess.
"Hey, old man. If she says she can, then she can." Ed glared up at both men, and Winry wondered if he knew that he'd stepped between her and them. "Winry is the best mechanic in Amestris." He sounded proud, and Winry was ridiculously happy for it. Edward seldomly felt he had something to be proud of.
"That little girl?" A third man, a younger one, laughed. "Better watch your boyfriend's mouth, girlie. It'll get you into trouble one day."
If he only knew, Winry thought as she fought down the bright blush at the mention of the word 'boyfriend'. It wasn't the first time such an assumption was made, and it wouldn't be the last; but Winry wished she cared less when Ed dispelled them. Loudly.
She sighed as he squared his shoulders and lifted a corner of his mouth. She knew that smirk. Had seen it numerous times in her life, first when he'd sneaked behind Bertie Tyle at the edge of the pond - the same Bertie who'd pushed Alphonse in recess - and only three days ago when he'd transmuted Havoc's pack of cigarettes into a 'Dating For Dummies' manual after the older man had made kissing sounds while Edward explained his new assignment to her. The poor man had looked so miserable at the sudden loss that Winry hadn't had the heart to wrench him herself.
The men taunting him now wouldn't fare much better. Oh well. "I don't think Mustang bought that 'chameleon' thing, anyway," she muttered as she collected the largest piece and inspected it carefully. She lowered it gently and looked around for the next piece; nodding absently to herself, she reached into her jacket and withdrew a screwdriver….
To an onlooker, it would have seemed strange to discover a blonde girl fully concentrated on her work as three men and a small boy squabbled not a yard away from her. Such onlooker, of course, would never have been treated to a dose of Edward and Alphonse Elric as they fought for the biggest piece of cake. Neither would this onlooker ever have studied the principles of automail mechanics while two boys and their teacher trained next to her - Winry doubted anyone but her could suspect the amount of yelling, swearing and screaming that could take place in a training session under Izumi Curtis.
The noise from this fight?
It didn't even figure into her radar.
"There you go," she smiled in triumph as she put the repaired radio back in its place. It looked a little worse to wear; but when she turned it on, it worked beautifully.
The sound caught the attention of the owner, who'd so far been distracted by Ed's antics. "Wow," he looked a little too impressed, like someone who had never believed she could do it. "Hey, guys. Look!"
His friends gave Ed a last glare, then turned back to the stand. And gaped.
Edward grinned smugly. "Told you so."
Winry smiled.
"Well, I'll be," one of the men laughed. "You are quite a wonder, missy. Seems Lior attracts the right kind of people lately."
"We've been blessed, indeed," the stand-owner added. "And if you still want to stay in the city, I'll make sure you find comfortable lodgings for the night."
"That'd be nice," Winry said. Finally. Not even these last events had made her forget how much she longed for a bed, for a bathtub. And not in that order. "Thank you." She gave Ed a look. Ed rolled his eyes to the sky, refusing to add his own thanks. Winry widened her smile a little more, hoping it would make up for her companion's lack of manners.
"My sister may be able to help," the man continued agreeably. "Just let me sweep that mess first - we don't want somebody to cut themselves on all that glass, do we? - and I'll take you to her house. Dowl, that's my nephew, has left town, looking for rice seeds to plant in the spring."
"Rice seeds!" One of the patrons chortled. "Gone to court Miggs' daughter, is more like it. Just like his uncle, isn't he, Pry?"
Pry shrugged. "Be that as it may, I'm sure Hattie will be glad to offer his room to such a young couple while her son's gone."
"We are not - ouch!"
Winry refused to feel guilty about stepping on his right foot. She also ignored his glare as he moved out of her reach. Instead she smiled at their unexpected benefactor. "That'd be lovely!"
"You're looking kind of purple, son," the youngest man noted, amused. "Hey, maybe we did get it wrong. Are you her kid brother, boy?"
"Ed," she tried. But he was too far away to haul him in.
Ed had already fisted his hands at his sides and was stalking up to the man.
Winry sighed.
"Are you saying I'm so small I wouldn't fit in her pocket if I tried?!"
The man blinked. "I never-"
Too late.
Winry winced as Ed grabbed the man's arm and twirled him around without so much as a warning. "Ah…." She started when she felt the owner's startled gaze move to her. "It's kind of a sore subject," she said lamely, "Height, I mean."
"I'd say," the befuddled man said. A small curious crowd was assembling around them, whispering about the 'rowdy newcomers'. Winry wanted nothing more than to borrow some of Ed's alchemy and sink into the ground.
"Hello, everyone," a new voice greeted them. Winry turned to find the voice's owner standing next to her; it was a girl her age, her dark hair interrupted by bangs of dark pink. She was carrying two paper bags and tilted her head when she noticed Winry. The brunette offered a small smile before raising an eyebrow at the commotion. "Is everything alright?"
Winry looked at the fight with a clinical eye. Ed looked fine, and after those hours under unforgiving sun and sand, it seemed that his left leg was holding out after all. Maybe she really had been fretting for nothing - not that it would stop her from sitting Ed down and checking every joint at the earliest chance. To the girl, she just shrugged. "Just boys being…."
At that moment, Ed seemed to register the new presence. What a whole crowd had been unable to do was accomplished by this girl. He stopped and glanced at the newcomer sheepishly.
Winry narrowed her eyes.
The other girl smiled pleasantly.
"Just perfect, Ed," Winry growled, "You done there?"
Ed spared a glance to his opponent. The man was groaning as he tried to roll his shoulder backwards. "Looks like it."
"Do you still want us at your sister's?" Winry asked in a hopeful whisper, pulling on her best innocent look. Inwardly, she wanted nothing more than to pull at Ed's braid until he realized what a fool he was. Jeopardizing the one decent shelter they may be able to find in the city, really!
The man opened his mouth, looking out of the corner of his eye as Edward walked back to them. Indecision turned to shock as the minuscule shards in front of his stand started to shake and, after a flash of light, reassembled themselves back into his stack of glasses. "What… What's that?"
Everybody gasped at the sight.
Edward, of course, looked immensely pleased with himself. "That's for getting us a room," he told the slack-jawed man. "Better than a thank you note, huh?"
Winry smiled despite herself. That was Ed, with his heart in the right place even when he had no sense of proper timing and place. People were staring openly at him, going as far as to point at the innocent-looking glasses and then at Edward.
"A miracle," the girl of the pink bangs breathed, her face full of amazement.
Winry took a step back, only to notice that everybody around them wore a similar expression. Miracle. The word spread like wildfire among the people. First a whisper, then an echo, until it reached a sort of reverence she hadn't heard since Edward and Alphonse planned to bring their mother back. That had ended in disaster, and ten minutes later, when the misunderstanding had been solved and it was clear that Ed wasn't Father Cornello's disciple, a shiver started up Winry's spine and she knew - knew - that whatever she and Ed had just unearthed wouldn't be any better.
"You're coming. Right, Winry?"
She nodded. A reflex more than anything else. Because she had followed Ed into the military, even though the military had caused her parents' deaths. She had gone with the brothers to Izumi's house, even when Rezembool had been her home since she'd been born. She would have gone to Yock Island, too, if Sig hadn't held her despite her yelling and kicking. Edward had her, and she had him - anything else was a mere detail. "Where?"
"To meet this Cornello guy."
"Father Cornello," the girl - Rose - corrected.
"Yeah, him," Ed said unrepentantly. "I want to see what he can do."
And how he does it, Winry filled in his unvoiced reason.
"Or you could check out if we really can stay at his nephew's room," Ed nodded to the man behind the counter. "Might save us some time is we take separate routes…" He noticed her look. "…or not." He looked at her and a rare smile appeared on his face. Not his trademark smug smirk, or even the one that told her he couldn't imagine life without her. It was as simple as the smile of a regular boy, a content boy - and the most precious for the same reason. "You really meant 'no exceptions', didn't you?"
Winry shrugged, wondering what he could read in her responding smile. "Knowing you, someone needs to look out for you. As always."
For one moment their eyes connected and she could recount every step that had brought them here: his mother, her grandmother, Alphonse. Mistake upon mistake, and them trying to make the best out of it.
"I'm glad that someone is you, Winry."
Then he turned on his heels and started a conversation with Rose about the 'miracles'. The moment was gone, but Winry took one more second to breathe it in and commit it to memory. Then she bowed to their impromptu benefactor, "We'll be back later. Please wait for us?"
The man nodded. "Of course. A State Alchemist in the flesh, and the cutest mechanic too." He chuckled at her face. "And the smartest, of course," he pacified her. "Hattie will be happy, she will. Now go," he waved her away, "Your boyfriend doesn't strike me as a patient guy."
She laughed at the understatement, and for the first time, didn't even try to protest the mistaken assumption.
The End