Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Incentive ❯ Incentive ( Chapter 1 )

Incentive

 

Winry sighed to herself as she dragged her feet up the stairs to her bedroom.

It felt good to be home again, but with no one in the house except her bodyguards, and with Granny at the spring sheep festival and Den who knows where, the large yellow house seemed very lonely to the teenager. Winry had never believed that her home could ever feel empty, yet as she stepped upon the floorboard that always creaked the sound seemed as loud as a church bell echoing over the mountains that surrounded Resembool.

She wondered how Ed and Al were doing.

Shaking her head to dispel her wandering thoughts, Winry decided that worrying about Ed and Al would do her little good and what she really needed to do was change her clothes, perhaps take a shower, find some food and then hide in the basement.

The creak of her bedroom door sounded louder than usual.

“Whew! I haven't been in here in so long.” Winry said to herself as she surveyed her bedroom. Automail parts on the floor, books everywhere but on the shelf, her bra hanging from the closet doorknob…everything was where she had left it. Deciding it was best to leave the lights off, Winry made her way to her open closet.

She was sick of being covered in dirt and sweat and a fresh set of clothes would be just the thing to refresh her.

Bumping into her nightstand, Winry cursed quietly and looked down to find a fine line of dust clinging to her trousers.

“Gross! Everything is covered in dust. I'm gonna have to clean up tomorrow.”

Winry clicked her tongue. She really hated cleaning her room, but it had to be done. She had forgotten just how long she had been away.

Granny must be really worried…

Taking off the overlarge shirt she was using more as a coat, Winry pushed her long bangs out of her eyes and hooked her fingers under the hem of the black tank-top she was wearing. Lifting the shirt over her torso, the cool air causing her skin to pebble with goosebumps, she was about to lift the shirt completely over her head when a crunch followed immediately by a stifled gulp caused her to still.

Looking cautiously over to her window, Winry froze.

Hunched over in a chair with half a sandwich sticking out of his mouth was Edward Elric.

Winry was frozen on the spot, her eyes never leaving Ed's. He too was completely immobile, his sandwich hanging out of his mouth, his eyes wide and unblinking, and a blush tinting his nose.

Why was Ed blushing?

The cool draft that caressed the underside of Winry's naked breasts was the only clue she needed.

Realizing she was exposing herself, Winry's first instinct wasn't to cover her breasts and blush like a simpering maiden. Oh, she felt heat, and she felt her face flushing, but the boiling rage that was coursing through her veins had nothing to do with hormonal embarrassment.

Ed was in hiding, in the dark, in her room.

He'd been sitting in a chair and watching her undress.

He was going to get hit so hard in the head that he would be an old man by the time he came to.

Opening her mouth and inhaling deeply, Winry was prepared to scream so loudly she would bring the roof crashing down on their heads.

She never got the chance.

Before she could get a single screech past her lips, Ed leaped from his chair, bounded towards Winry in two large strides and tackled her to the bed, his flesh arm wrapped around her waist and his automail arm raised to clamp cold metal fingers to her mouth.

Ed had expected a lot of things from Winry when she caught him in her room, and yelling at the top of her lungs had been the first option he had thought of. He didn't have a great deal of time to react so, like he did most things, Ed acted on spontaneous impulse.

It was a habit that Al had warned him would one day get him killed.

Before, Ed had just brushed off his little brother's overbearing logic, but as he found himself laying on top of Winry, their legs entangled, his arms around her, and her lithe body brushing against him in ways that sixteen year old teenage boys dreamed of, Ed believed he really might have found himself in the most perilous situation of his young life.

Winry was struggling against him as if he was a ravenous lion and she a frantic gazelle caught in the hunt. She thrashed and twisted, desperate to get away from him, even going so far as to bite one of his automail fingers before letting out a slurred `shit' around the digit.

“Winry…for fuck's sake Winry just calm down!” Ed gritted harshly around his sandwich, bringing his face so close to hers that their noses brushed together. Angry narrowed blue eyes bore into his equally agitated golden orbs.

It was always like this between Ed and Winry. Neither believed in backing down, each meeting the other blow for blow until they reached an angry truce in which there was no winner, only two pissed off teenagers. It had always been this way, ever since they were kids, which is why Ed was more than surprised when he felt Winry's body slowly relax under his. As her muscles calmed and her body became pliable and limp, Ed's own body followed, crushing his friend into the mattress of her bed.

Winry's arms were pressed between them, her fingers curled against Ed's metal wrist, her breasts rubbing against his own heaving chest with every breath. Feeling his body cover the length of his friend, Ed was violently reminded of just how not-friendly his feelings for his mechanic had become.

For all that Winry was a strong, capable woman with calloused hands and an attitude that could wear down even Al's patience, she was also soft and lush with legs that went on forever and breasts that were too perfect for this world.

Ed was sure he had seen the shadow of a nipple before Winry noticed he was sitting in the corner.

Gulping down the rest of his sandwich, the food suddenly tasting like sandpaper in his mouth, Ed took deep breaths, hoping that the meditation techniques that Teacher had tried to teach him would work. But with each inhale Ed took all he could smell was Winry. She was sweaty, a little dusty, with traces of grease and oil mingling with the subtle scent of apple blooms.

It was spring, after all.

Spring, a time of birth and renewal and…hormones.

“What are you doing in my room Ed?!” Winry demanded in a deep whisper.

Ed hadn't noticed that in his failed attempt at meditation, he had loosened his hold on Winry's mouth, the blond mechanic easily able to push his fingers aside so that she could ask her questions.

“Well? Answer me Ed.”

“OK! Give me damn second woman.” Ed huffed, shifting on the bed to get more comfortable.

Winry wondered if Ed noticed that he had aligned their bodies, his automail knee planted right between her legs.

“Your room is the best place to see people approaching the house. I was keeping a lookout.” he explained, still trying to ignore Winry's distracting breasts.

“That's not what I mean!” she hissed, frustrated beyond reason as Ed continued to shift and fidget, his knee grinding against her…

Ed never saw the wrench coming.

One moment he was trying to think of what to say to Winry, the next he was lying flat on his back on the floor, his skull fostering a new bump and bloody cut and his vision going fuzzy.

When the world came into focus again, Ed looked up at Winry. She was kneeling at the edge of her bed, a wrench the size of a yard stick clutched so tightly in her hand her knuckles were going white.

“Answer my question, Ed, and you better answer it right.”

Winry's blue eyes were alight with indignant fire. She was breathing heavily, her skin was flushed, and her breasts were nearly falling out of her loose fitting tank-top.

“I wasn't looking or anything.” Ed stuttered quickly, lifting his gaze from Winry's chest to look her in the eyes. If he was going to lie, he had better not stare at her like a dog drooling over a bone. “Who'd wanna peep on a totally un-cute girl like you, anyway?”

“For someone who says he wasn't being a pervert, you sure were taking your sweet-ass time of informing me you were in my room. Were you going to wait until I was naked before speaking up?!”

The image of a naked Winry was enough to give Ed a nosebleed but he resisted the fantasy. Sitting up, Ed rubbed his head, feeling the swelling of his newly acquired bump. He was blushing and Winry knew it, and Ed had never wished more in his life that Al would walk in and ruin the moment.

“…you wouldn't get lucky with me if you were the last alchemist in the world!”

Ed flushed at Winry's remark but quickly found his temper when he registered that what she had said was a blatant insult of his masculinity.

“Shit, you're lucky I'm around `cuz I'm the only alchemist that would even consider dating an un-cute, not girly, machine-junkie geek like you!”

“Oh, I should be the lucky one? If I wasn't around you wouldn't have a chance of getting laid by a single girl in all of Amestris you midget bean-sized alchemy obsessed freak!”

The room was silent for several long minutes.

Ed and Winry stared at each other with shocked expressions. As their ire calmed and they realized what it was they had said, both Ed and Winry began to blush so badly that their faces radiated in the dark bedroom. It certainly was not the time or place to be making confessions, but as they were things said in the heat of the moment, they could easily be written off as irrational babbling thoughts rather than deep-hidden truths.

Ed and Winry opted for the former.

“Are you OK?” Winry asked, sliding of the bed and putting her wrench back under her pillow.

“You hit me pretty hard.” Ed commented, hoping to make the girl feel a little guilty. When she gave him a punch in the shoulder, he supposed she really had no sympathy for him.

“Not that, Ed. I haven't seen you in a while, not since we separated. I was scared for you, really scared.”

“Yeah…” Ed mumbled as he scuffed his metal toes against the floor. “Sorry about that. I'm fine. I was worried about you, too, Winry. I'm glad you got back safely.”

“Thanks.” Winry answered, holding her breath as she stepped forward to give Ed a quick hug. “So, how long have you been here?”

“A while.”

“And you've been in my room the whole time?”

“Um…most of the time…yeah…” Ed answered awkwardly.

The thought of Ed being in her room…of laying on her bed…looking in her closet…going over her automail manuals…seeing her bra on the closet knob…sitting in the dark and watching her change…

The whole reason she was angry with him returned to the surface.

“Just checking.”

And with that, Winry let loose a scream that rattled the shingles and shook the house's foundation. She was still screaming when four burly men, each armed with two guns and shouting at whomever the intruder might be barged into the bedroom.

Ed had only one deflated thought.

`Fuck me…”

***

Ed let his mind wander as Winry worked on his automail. After the chaos upstairs had calmed down, and Winry had been reunited with her grandmother, Ed and Winry made their way to the workshop.

They were alone, the others having spread throughout the house to do whatever they did to kill time before their departure. As soon as Ed's maintenance was complete and they had a hot meal in their bellies, they would be off for Central to do whatever they could to stop the `Promised Day' that Father was behind.

The two teenagers made idle chatter while Winry worked. She told him of going to Reole and meeting Rose and Hoenheim and Ed told her of hiding out in Central, meeting up with Greed (or Lin) and making his way back to Resembool.

“All done.” Winry announced wiping her screwdriver on her apron. “Here, polish your arm up.” she instructed, tossing Ed a rag as she placed her tools back on the workbench and started to sort them.

“How's Al?” Ed asked as he rubbed his arm furiously, determined to make the surface sparkle and avoid Winry giving him an earful.

“Al's fine. He's working with Mr. Miles, planning on what they'll do when the time comes. Your father went ahead of him to Central and is staying in the Kanama slum. I think you should go and see him before you jump into the situation.”

“Pft!” Ed snorted.

“I'm serious Ed! Your father knows what's going on even better than you do. Would it really hurt to talk to him for ten minutes?”

Ed was silent, dutifully polishing his wrist joint. He wasn't really thinking about his father, or his brother, or even about how hungry he was. Instead, Ed was staring intently at Winry's back, or more specifically, her ass. A few months ago, Ed would have been mortified to catch himself looking at Winry the way a certain son-of-a-bitch colonel appraised the female body. However, as it was, Ed had very recently become used to the rather troubling fact that he found Winry's body especially attractive, noting how his automail tune-ups had become both the highlight and bane of his existence: a highlight because it provided the perfect opportunity to `accidentally' brush against Winry or to sneak a peek down whichever shirt she was wearing, a bane because the woman he was ogling was Winry Rockbell, a girl he had known from the cradle and had apparently fought over with his younger brother. Winry was his friend and she was his mechanic and with all of the complications that put Ed's life in danger, it was unfair to drag Winry into hell with him.

That's why she had to stay his mechanic and only his mechanic.

So why was is it that Ed found himself standing just behind Winry as she sorted at her workbench? Standing so close, Ed was able to catch her unique scent again, her blond hairs tickling his nose. He watched her neck intently, admiring its slim length and hidden strength and wanting very badly to just bend down and softly kiss it…

“Hey Ed?” Winry asked. Startled out of his hormonal daydream Ed took a small step back and waited for Winry to continue her question. She looked a little surprised to find Ed standing so close when she turned around, but the moment was fleeting. Instead, she relaxed heavily against the workbench and bit her lip before pressing forward. “So, you've heard about this whole `Promised Day' thing, right?”

“Oh, that.” Ed sighed, his golden eyes narrowing slightly as his mind conjured images of a hollow Amestris, the streets lined with bodies and the country a barren womb of death. Even so… “Greed told me about it. But `ya see Winry, that could be mine and Al's chance to get our bodies back.”

“And it could also be the day that Amestris will be obliterated.” Winry countered.

Their words lay heavy in the room, making both terribly uncomfortable. Winry began to fidget with the ties of her apron and Ed huffed as he rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand. Winry smiled to herself as she watched her friend. It had always been a nervous habit of Ed's to rub his neck whenever he was unsure of what to do.

Lately, Winry had noticed he had been doing that mostly when he was around her.

“Don't worry Ed.” Winry said, stepping forward to place her hands on his shoulders. He froze at her touch. “You and Al will be able to stop it.”

“Yeah…um, Win…”

Winry bit her tongue to keep from gasping. Ed hadn't called her `Win' since…well, since before his mother died. Her heart began to beat erratically and her throat was suddenly dry. The look in Ed's golden eyes was so intense, his jaw was set, his mouth was a stern thin line…Ed was going to say something very important and, even though she had silently sworn not think about it ever again, Winry hoped it might have something to do with their sort-of confessions in her bedroom not a few hours ago.

“I want…I want to you take Auntie and Den, tonight right after I leave…I want the three of you to go and hide in another country.”

Winry felt completely deflated.

“What?!” she demanded, her fingers clenching into fists.

“I just want you three to get out of Amestris. Once everything's over Al and I will come and get you.”

“You idiot!” Winry cried as she slapped Ed across the face with all of her might. This comment wasn't worth the wrench, it was so asinine. Winry honestly felt as if she could kill and as she breathed raggedly, Ed turned his face back to her, her handprint standing out vividly against his tanned skin. The concerned look that had sparkled in his eyes was now gone, replaced with an inferno of gross anger.

“What the fuck, woman?! Winry! That hurt!”

“Good! Maybe that knocked some common sense into your stupid thick skull!”

“What's that supposed to mean? I just want to make sure you're safe.”

“By telling me to run and hide?! Ed, what's the point of only telling your friends and family to hide when the country is full of millions of people? Are you saying you can't stop this thing from happening now?”

“It's not like that at all!” Ed screamed as he stepped forward to take Winry's arm rather harshly in his automail hand. He pulled her to him, their bodies once again flush with each other.

However, they were both too mad to notice.

“We can and we will stop it, but there's a small chance…”

“There's no small chance, Ed! There's no nothing…”

“There is something!” Ed insisted as he raised his flesh hand to rest on the crown of Winry's head. That action stilled Winry in the middle of her rant. Ed had been patting the top of her head since they were toddlers. It was a mode of comfort, though it was usually meant to comfort her. This time, Winry knew that Ed was doing it to comfort himself.

“Ed?”

“Do you think I want you to die? Do you think I want all of this to be gone? Dammit Winry, I'm gonna fight the hardest I can to keep everyone safe but I know just how wrong things can go.”

Both Ed and Winry looked down at his automail arm which was still roughly holding her elbow. Ed's expression became desperately serious when he regarded Winry, his golden eyes boring into her blue ones, imploring her to understand.

“I've already put you into too much danger. Enough's enough, Winry. If the only way to keep you safe is to get you out of Amestris then fine, I'll get you out of here.”

“Ed…” Winry sighed, leaning forward to rest her forehead on his chin.

When did he get taller than her?

“I'm not going to die.”

“You don't know that.” Ed countered quickly, his voice quiet and sounding as if he might crack at any moment. His worry was soothing to Winry's concerns over their increasingly tenuous friendship.

“I didn't know you cared so much.” she said in jest. Ed, however, did not find the comment very funny.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Of course I care! Haven't I shown you a million times that I care?” Ed ranted as he blew a lock of hair out of his face. “If anything, I think you don't care very much about me.”

“How can you say that?!” Winry screeched.

“Oh give it a rest, Winry. You care more about this damn automail than me.” Ed snorted. Winry wanted to punch Edward squarely in the jaw for his stupid comment, but his words had hurt her too much to resort to violence. Instead, she leaned further into him, one hand coming up to grip his automail arm and the other resting on the thigh of his left leg.

“I care about your automail, Ed, because it's part of you. It keeps you safe…it protects you when I can't. You and Al have been leaving me behind for years, walking away from me and Resembool, and all I can do is wait. I've been waiting for you for five years, Ed, because I know I can't go with you…but my automail can. It can be with you when I can't. That's why I could kill you when you come home with it nearly destroyed. It means I wasn't strong enough…I couldn't protect you.”

Ed was quiet as Winry explained her strange fascination with his mechanical limbs. Of course she would go ahead and make it all about her sincere caring feelings for him, completely popping the theory Ed had been holding onto for years that Winry simply was a machine-junkie who preferred nuts and bolts to actual living, breathing human beings.

It seemed he was wrong.

In fact, it seemed that Winry's entire purpose for being the machine-junkie she was had everything to do with her very strong feelings for him.

`I'm an ass.' Ed thought to himself as his automail arm came to wrap around Winry's little form. She fit just right against him, her head fitting under his chin and her arms snaking around his neck like they were meant to be there.

“You and Al must get your bodies back.” Winry murmured into Ed's shoulder. Her breath was warm against his skin. “I'll do everything I can to help, but I won't leave Amestris.”

Ed disentangled himself from Winry and forced her a step back so he could give her a thoroughly stern look. For years, this particular glower of ire and indignation had Al quivering in the knees until the younger Elric gave into the elder's wishes. On Winry, however, this look had never worked. Still, Ed thought he might as well give it a try. Instead, he found himself looking into a mirror, Winry's own face contorted to mimic his, proving she was just as bullheaded and determined as he was.

There was no winning with this woman.

“You really have a way of making everything seem so simple.” Ed grumbled.

“Isn't it? You'll go to Central, stop this `Promised Day' thing, get yours and Al's bodies back, and come back home…and I'll stay here waiting for you…hey, Ed?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you still need me? I mean, when you get your arm and leg back you won't need automail anymore so…will you still need me?”

Ed felt his cheeks getting hot at the question.

He wanted to answer her, he really did. But sadly, Winry was not the priority at the moment. What mattered now was saving Amestris and getting his and Al's bodies back. There was no time for relationships, even if this particular relationship was close to his heart. To say he cared for her, that he would always need her, automail or not, would be too selfish. He owed Al all of his attention and effort and simply could not do anything about Winry until his quest was over. Ed couldn't let himself become wholly devoted to his childhood friend until he fixed the mistakes he had made five years ago.

After that…if she was still waiting…

Ed sighed and turned away from Winry, not caring to see the expectant look in her shinning blue eyes. Grabbing his coat, Ed was about to leave the workshop when he noticed how sad Winry looked.

He couldn't answer her, but perhaps some reassurance…

The kiss was so light that Winry wasn't sure it was real. One moment Ed was walking away from her, just as he had been doing for the last several years, and the next he was standing in front of her, a sad pleading look on face. He wanted her to understand something, but what was it?

And then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Ed leaned forward and kissed Winry on the forehead. His lips did not linger, but every bit of feeling that Ed had for Winry was placed into that kiss. It was his promise without words. He would come back, he wouldn't leave her alone, and when it was all over, it would finally be their time…

“Are you leaving? You never give in that easily.” Winry commented as Ed moved away from her and towards the door.

“Oh my God, woman, quit nagging me!” Ed huffed between grit teeth. He had just made a very vulnerable move on her and how did she respond? By yelling at him. Completely typical Winry.

Ed huffed to himself and left the workshop, wishing Al was around to spar with to channel his ever growing frustration.

Winry stood in her workshop for a few moments staring at the door.

Ed hadn't answered her question, and that was enough to almost make Winry want to cry, but that gentle kiss, as soft as feather, gave the teenager hope. Ed hadn't kissed her once, not even when they were children. That was the first time he had ever kissed her and while he was unable to offer her words of reassurance, that little peck was just enough to let Winry hope that, whatever happened, Ed thought of her as an important person.

Still, she didn't like the thought of him going into this fight. While it may be his and Al's only chance at regaining their original bodies, there was a much larger possibility that it would be the end of Amestris. Watching Ed walk out of the workshop, it seemed to Winry as if she were watching a soldier going to meet his fate.

She had known Edward Elric for years and knew perfectly well how to read the sixteen year old.

Ed wasn't sure he would be coming back to Resembool, his request for her to hide in another country was proof of his doubt. Winry didn't doubt him, however, and she knew that he and his brother would be coming home to her.

Now, all she had to do was convince Ed…

***

It was past midnight when Ed and his gang decided it was safe to leave. Winry, Den and her grandmother all gathered on the porch to say their goodbyes.

“Thanks Winry, Auntie Pinako.”

“Are you going to be alright? You know that trains don't run at this time, Ed.” Pinako cautioned, her lips curling around her pipe.

“It's better that we travel in the night.” Ed answered adjusting his coat collar. “Besides, the `Promised Day' is nearly here, we can't waste anymore time.”

Ed turned to walk away, his companions already becoming shadows in the darkness.

“Wait! Ed!” Winry called as she charged down the porch stairs. Ed stopped and turned to look at the blond girl who was rushing to him.

“What is it Winry?” he asked, his tone not particularly patient. Winry took a deep breath to steel her nerves.

“You're going to talk to your dad, right? And you're gonna listen to what he has to say?”

Ed felt like groaning. He waved a careless hand at her, as if he was completely not interested in her reminder.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You just make sure to stay hidden. Don't come out of the house for anything, understand?”

“Don't talk to me like I'm a little kid, Ed.” Winry bristled as she took a few heavy steps towards Ed and threw her arms around him.

“Hey! Winry! Come on, get off!” he asked in a panic, his golden eyes darting to the shadows where he just knew his cohorts were watching. His struggles, however, only seemed to encourage the vice-like grip Winry had around his neck. Once again, Ed was reminded of just how grown up Winry was. With her breasts pressed against his chest and her hips bumping into his, Ed found it impossible to concentrate.

“You're going to be careful, right?” she asked, her lips brushing against his neck. Ed felt his heart stop. It had taken all of his courage to give her that small kiss on her forehead in the workshop, it had taken all of his resolve for him to walk away from her, and now, it was taking every last drop of Ed's self control to not jump Winry in front of her grandmother.

The blond really did have the worst timing.

Feeling her shoulders quaking, Ed looked down and saw that Winry was trembling. Hating to see her so upset, Ed slowly raised his arms to wrap around her shivering body.

“Hey. You're not crying are you?” Ed teased, his voice a small whisper that only Winry could hear.

“No.” she answered. “I won't break our promise.”

“Good. No crying until I get back.” Ed mumbled against her temple.

“No crying unless it's out of happiness. I remember.” Winry said.

“OK.” Ed answered, pulling away from Winry so that he could look into her eyes. In the darkness, her blue eyes twinkled like stars. They were eyes that Ed could very easily get used to seeing every day.

“I'll be back after all this `Promised Day' bullshit is over. So, bake me an apple pie and keep it warm until I come home.”

He flashed her a gentle, confidant smile and was surprised when Winry not only returned the gesture but pulled him so close that her lips were brushing against his ear.

“You come back in one piece, Edward, and I'll serve you that apple pie naked in bed.”

And with that sensual image implanted in his brain, Winry kissed Ed's earlobe and disengaged herself from him before making her way back to the porch.

Ed's feet were planted to the ground and his body didn't move. His right eye was twitching and a little trail of drool was seeping from the corner of his mouth as his sixteen year old brain went into overdrive with visions of white skin, blue eyes, blond hair and the scent of cinnamon all over her naked body.

“Fullmetal! Quit fucking around with your girlfriend and let's go!”

Greed's words were as effective as a bucket of cold water being dumped on Ed's head and a pack of ice cubes being dropped in his trousers.

“Shut up!” Ed hollered as he turned around and jogged into the shadows, one hand raised to wave to the family that had always waited.

“Winry…” Pinako drawled as she took a drag off her pipe.

“Yes, Granny?”

“What was it you said to Ed just now?”

Winry bit her bottom lip in a shy smirk and blushed, hoping her grandmother hadn't noticed that Ed was temporarily paralyzed after she'd hugged him. But of course, Pinako Rockbell noticed everything.

“Nothing much. I just told him he better not break his automail and gave him a little incentive to come back home.”