soul_logs | And you delivered me from danger then [closed]

Entry tags:

And you delivered me from danger then [closed]

Characters: Alphonse Elric (

its_a_hobby), Edward Elric (

steelmade), and Winry Rockbell (

endthiscycle).
Location: Horrorspital ; Winry's Room
Rating: PG
Time: August 25, after all/most of the patients have left.
Description: Winry thinks it's high time that the Goldren Trio sit down, and have A Talk. This will be unpleasant.

A part of Winry had considered perhaps calling off the meeting. She had been wanting to sit down with Ed and Al for a long time since it was becoming increasingly obvious--at least, she felt, that there were still secrets being kept. Still uncertainties floating around their heads, and she for one, was sick of it.

Unfortunately the sudden appearance of one Maes Hughes had thrown everyone for a loophole, and she knew that this conversation would have been very unpleasant to begin with. With the emotional state most were in, herself included, it would only be made things that much worse, but this had been put off for too long. Either way, perhaps it was best to let all the steam that had been building up all out at once.

The Clinic was nice for many things, and one of those was privacy. She had her own room here, abandoning the Casualty Communal, and simply waited for the other two.

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Ed very much didn't want to be here.

At least - he wouldn't, under normal circumstances, especially given what had prompted her to ask him. As it was, though, he did want to keep something of an eye on Winry after Hughes's arrival. And, anyway, she'd said that she wanted to talk to them about something, and he wasn't going to deny her the chance to do so if she wanted. So, he'd stuck around after being discharged - finally - and waited until it was close to the time she'd said they should meet before walking to her room and stopping in the doorway, knocking on the open door to inform her of his presence.

Agreeing to Winry's talk had been one of those things Al had done automatically; he couldn't very well refuse her, but the more he thought about it, the less he actually wanted to show up. Winry had been right about how much remained unspoken between them, but right now he wasn't entirely sure most of it wasn't better off staying that way.

Seeing Hughes had dredged up all sorts of uncomfortable feelings, and with so much weighing on his own mind, Al couldn't guarantee he'd be able to give the other two the kind of support they were most likely going to need once this was over. Still, he intended to do his best.

He arrived at the clinic right on time, walking over to join his brother as they waited for Winry to let them in.

Winry opened the door right away, and despite everything managed to give them both a genuine smile. It was good, especially to that Alphonse was alright. Sure they had talked over the network, but seeing him in person was much better.

"Come in, come in." she closed the door behind them. It was a pretty spacious room, smaller than what one might have at the Casualty Communal but still enough to fit a number of people comfortably.

"Thanks for coming guys, I know things are. Aren't the best with Hughes arriving but I've been wanting us to talk for a while now and," she shook her head, "who know who else might show up down the road, or what might happen. Might as well just go on with it." She worried this would continuously get delayed or put off, there was no telling what could happen anymore.

Ed didn't reply to that, just walked in past her and moved to lean against the side of the couch, crossing his arms.

Al could see the logic behind that--how many times had Ed come and gone already, after all?--but Winry's words didn't ease his apprehension. It definitely sounded like she was being bothered by something serious.

"You don't need to thank us," he said, taking a seat on the floor and regarding Winry calmly. It seemed they would probably be here for a while. Al was tempted to add that she shouldn't worry so much, but that would have been so far over the line of hypocrisy even he knew better than to try. "What is it you've been wanting to say?"

She takes a seat herself, on the couch and there is a pregnant pause before she speaks. She isn't quite sure she knows how to open this all up, or even how to put out everything she wants to say.

It takes a moment before she finds where to begin. "I don't feel like we've all been completely honest with each other. I'll admit, I haven't been completely about certain things either but I will change that. In this place that is so foreign to all of us, and unnatural we stand on equal ground as far as experience goes. And, well, regardless of whether I want to be in the fray or not, I am, so I want to do what I can."

She raised her head to look at them. "So I want to ask that you two be honest with me too, about whatever that will be brought up now, and whatever might come down the road, regardless of whether its related to our situation here and what's going on or not. I've felt...I don't know. Like this are different between us, and I don't like it. I don't want there to be secrets anymore."

I want to do what I can, huh?

But, at her question, he nodded. That was fair.

Ever since that mess with the Shadows Al had promised himself he'd be more honest with her, but that had proven to be much easier said than done. If it was still such an issue, maybe he hadn't been faking it as well as he'd thought.

"A lot's happened," he agreed, nodding. "I don't think it's a matter of keeping secrets so much as it is none of us knowing how to talk about it all.

"But you're right. In a place like this, it's more important than ever that the three of us stick together."

She nods. That's one step in the right direction. She glanced towards Ed. Well, sorta, but she'd have to hope that nod was his way of saying he'd be honest.

"For me, the first thing I want to confess to you is this. I briefly talked with Ed about signing the contract, back before it was abolished. My main duty will always be to the clinic, and the clinic first, but I don't want to stay around there if I can help with the fight. Dr. Watson is helping me out, and we have a lot of employees and a circulating schedule for things just like that. Especially when these...mission things start, I'm not just going to stay behind. So I'm going to be finding a partner as soon as possible."

She paused.

"And for about two weeks now, I've been training under Dr. Stein."

So it'd been Stein. Creepy-ass guy, but he'd been helpful enough when Ed had talked to him - more than he needed to be, really.

"I thought so," Ed said aloud, showing no other signs of reacting.

As was always the case when the subject of Winry being in potential danger came up, Al's reaction was nothing short of perfectly poised and rational.

...Which is to say he sat up in shock and barely restrained himself from flailing like a lunatic. "Dr. Stein?!"

What could she possibly have to learn from a guy like that?

But he calmed down quickly. Winry's training was hardly the biggest problem here; no, it was what she'd said first that made Al go still and stare her down.

The missions. She really wanted to...?

...somehow their reactions almost seemed opposite to her. She looked at Ed, baffled.

"You. You knew?"

Then to Alphonse, before nodding. "He's the strongest Meister Shibusen has to offer." And boy did she know that first hand. It was a good thing she used Watson to heal herself. It didn't take away the pains and aches but she really would not like either of them to see what she looked like after a training session.

"Not for very long," he said, glancing back at Winry. "You gave yourself away."

His own calmness was almost confusing him, really - it wasn't like he was any more okay with the idea of Winry having to fight or - or take souls than he'd been before. But if this was what she really wanted to do - it was like what he'd said to the Colonel, he couldn't just say no forever and expect her to listen. And if she'd been training for two weeks with such a tough guy and kept at it, her resolve must be strong.

Wasn't that what he'd said in Rush Valley? Once she's made up her mind, there's no changing it.

...That felt far away, now.

Besides, if she was looking for a partner, she'd probably end up with Miranda, judging by how they'd resonated, and. Well, there were worse people to trust her to.

Edited 2010-07-24 05:40 (UTC)

Leave it to Winry to talk her way into being taught by the best. If it wasn't for the fact that Stein was irredeemably crazy, Al might have almost felt proud of her.

He watched Ed for a long moment, amazed his brother was taking the news so well. Ultimately, though, Ed's attitude proved to be a good influence, serving to remind Al that Winry would never listen to a word he said if he continued freaking out on her.

"I definitely think you should find a partner," he said, his tone measured and careful. "This is a dangerous place, and with witch attacks and people like Adachi and Crane being brought here..." Al sighed. "As much as I hate to say it, you need to be able to protect yourself in case of the worst."

The rest was a completely different story. Self-defense was an unfortunate necessity, but Winry actively seeking out trouble wasn't something he could ever see himself approving of.

So far this was going surprisingly well, and much like Al, that was making her relax a lot more. She nodded.

"There haven't been a lot of people that I've been able to resonate with, though," and she nods at Edward, "I can do so really well with Miranda so. I'm thinking of maybe asking her if we can practice a bit together sometime, just so I can get the hang of all that she can do. So far I know she can make shield and temporarily heal others." Perhaps there were other things, she intended to find out.

"So if things go well, she'll be the one I ask to be my partner."

"Makes sense," Ed replied, nodding again.

Miranda, huh? From what Al had heard about the frog attack, it certainly sounded like she'd came through for Winry and Ed when it really counted. Still, the image that immediately popped into his mind upon hearing her name was that of a terrified woman cowering under a table. Perhaps Al would warm up to the idea more once he got to see Miranda's abilities in action for himself.

"Temporarily heal?" Al asked. Even in such a serious discussion, he couldn't stop his scientific curiosity from being piqued.

Winry nodded. "It seems that as long as we join our efforts, we can heal a person's wounds as long as we concentrate on them. Once she returned to her human form, however, they returned."

Still, it was an incredibly useful ability. It would be a very good way to keep someone in good condition until they were able to receive proper help.

"Yeah, it was like it was never there," Ed chipped in, laying a hand where the wound used to be without thinking about it. "Even if it was only for a few minutes, it was completely gone."

"I wonder why that is," Al mused to himself. Was it a way of redirecting Winry's Meister ability? Would the effects become permanent once their resonation was stronger? Either way, it would be interesting to find out. "Do you think it would be possible for her healing to work on you too?"

"I'm pretty sure it could. Weapons don't have quite the same limitations as Meisters seem to, and I've used Watson to help myself before." Alas he was another who already had a partner, or so she believed.

He'd perked at Al's question, curious as well, but at Winry's reply, he turned around to face her, sharply. He'd seen them work together with patients, but the way she said that -

"When have you needed healing, Winry?"

Because the thought of Winry getting hurt - even if these things could be healed here - was still on the order of being one of the most horrible things possible.

After a moment, he added, making a point of echoing her words, "Complete honesty, right?"

Al suppressed the urge to sigh at Ed's phrasing, but the question did raise a good point. Just what had Winry been getting herself into with all this training and secrecy?

He said nothing, but looked at her expectantly for an answer.

She nodded, "Complete honesty--but do not worry. It's simply from my training. Stein's a tough teacher so I've asked Watson to help me heal them so I wouldn't alarm others, and so I could continue my duties to the clinic effortlessly."

She knew Watson hadn't exactly been thrilled about her training, but he helped her nonetheless and for that she was very grateful. In fact, thinking on it now he had done a lot for her. She'd have to repay him some day.

Fair enough. He doubted Stein was any Teacher, but if he even had a fraction of her ability, well. It'd be a long time before Ed forgot how training with her felt. He wasn't sure how he felt about Winry experiencing that - or maybe he knew exactly how he felt about it. But...he'd agreed to support her decision, as well as seen how poorly not doing so had gone, so he nodded, leaning against the couch again and ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that she'd been hurt and he hadn't even known.

Edited 2010-08-01 07:11 (UTC)

You didn't learn from a teacher who went easy on you; Al knew that from experience and yet... This was Winry. The standards he held for her were much different than those he held for himself. Logical or not, her desire to put herself through such intense training left him feeling a lot like he'd failed her.

"I know you want a good teacher, but I still don't think Dr. Stein is the least bit trustworthy." In a way the man conjured up images of Shou Tucker, only with less restraint and a hell of a lot more power.

Honestly Winry couldn't blame them. When she had first met the guy he had been off his rocker (more so than usual) and trying to bait her into meeting a Witch. He didn't bother trying to hide the fact that he dissected people as a hobby, and, well especially after seeing first hand what he could do she knew that if he ever became hostile she wouldn't have much of a chance against him.

Still. In the time she'd been training with him, which was quite a lot, there was just something about him that made her feel this was okay. She wouldn't say she entirely thought him to be a 'good' person, not exactly, but she didn't fear for herself.

"I understand why, don't blame you. And I can't really explain it but...I don't trust him as a whole, but I don't believe he'd harm me."

And really, she wasn't really up for debating this. She'd told them the truth, and was ready to move on.

"There's something I've actually been wanting to as you for a while, Al."

"You think so?" Ed asked Al, a bit surprised. He didn't much trust anyone affiliated with Shibusen, but Stein had seemed...kind of okay, for such a creepy guy.

Unfortunately, the truth alone wasn't enough to get Al to drop the subject. He didn't intend to ignore Winry's question, but surely it could wait a little longer.

I don't believe he'd harm me. Al wouldn't call Winry naive per se, but something about that sentence alarmed him. True, Stein was capable of holding normal conversations sometimes, but that was just it--the guy was unstable. Who knew what it would take to set him off?

"He's crazy," Al answered bluntly, looking at Ed. "He's the kind of 'scientist' who's obsessed with taking people apart."

He turned back to Winry, hoping he could spin this in a way that wouldn't make her angry. "If you're that set on being taught by Dr. Stein, what if you at least took some other people with you? If he's really the best Meister, I bet we could all learn a lot from him."

It bothered her to hear Al call him crazy so blunty, but it was hard to argue, and frankly Winry knew she shouldn't try to defend him. She was trying very hard to break this habit of becoming attached to people so quickly, or always thinking the best of them. After all, look where it had landed her in the cases of Kimbley and Adachi, but it was something very hard for her to even notice.

She was a little surprised at his proposition, and almost protested by instinct, but thinking on it, it wasn't all that bad a solution.

"Alright. I'm fine with that if you're really worried." Maybe then they could see for themselves what she couldn't quite articulate.

Obsessed with taking people apart.

Now that Ed definitely didn't like the sound of, even if, well...

"Sounds familiar," he said dryly, glancing at Winry and remembering what she had to have done to his watch in Rush Valley to see the inscription inside.

At Al's suggestion, he opened his mouth - whether to protest or agree, even he wasn't quite sure - but Winry's answer caught him so off-guard that he was left closing his mouth and opening it again, fish-like.

"What?"

Edited 2010-08-03 03:53 (UTC)

"Thanks, Winry." Al relaxed at her unexpected agreement, tuning out Ed's reaction.

Tagging along for Winry's sessions with Stein wasn't going to be easy; people with Soul Perception made Al incredibly uncomfortable, and worst of all, he and Ed were going to have to see Winry get hurt and hold themselves back from interfering. Still, it was better than letting her go alone, and the possibility of picking up useful information themselves was a very real one.

"I know it's not the sort of thing we'd normally do together, but maybe it won't be so bad."

Sounds familiar? Winry gave Edward a confused look. Sounds familiar to---

...hey. Wait a second.

She returned his glance with a very flat look of her own but turning to Al and giving a single nod.

"And who knows, maybe you guys could learn something new too." She knew that they took a lot of pride in their own teacher--perhaps that's why she felt some compelled to defend her own--but it never hurt to gain more techniques.

Ed hadn't been sure what to think of Al's suggestion at first, but Winry's point was a good one - he'd already been planning on learning more about how fighting in this world worked, and who better to learn from than Shibusen's best Meister? Plus, if they were together, he and Al could see for themselves just what Winry'd gotten herself into.

He nodded. "That's not a bad idea."

"Yeah. And since we're all Meisters, it could be good for us to learn how to work together."

That was still strange for Al to think about--instead of being two alchemists and an automail mechanic, the three of them were in the same position, all dealing with trying to master their new abilities. It seemed like Winry had come to realize just how much that changed things sooner than him.

"--Oh, didn't you want to ask me something?"

Well that was out of the way, and had gone a heck of a lot more smoothly than she had bargained. Sure it took a very unexpected turn, but honestly a part of her was almost...excited to be training alongside Ed and Al. Excited, and maybe a little worried considering how much more experience they had than her, but to finally be doing something alongside them. It's something she's wanted for a very long time.

"Ah! Right! We were sort of on the subject of partners before and it reminded me. And this is just a curiosity thing, really, since I was surprised by it but. Well what made you pick Badou?" Not that Winry disapproved of him, but when she considered the two, it's not a partnership she would have seen coming.

"I've been wondering about that, too," Ed added.

It wasn't that Badou seemed to be a bad guy, by any means, but he certainly wasn't up their usual alley in terms of allies, and the fact that Al had an artillery kind of weapon still surprised him.

Al wasn't bothered by their curiosity; his partnership wasn't actually something he understood all that well himself. But how to explain what was mostly intuitive...

"I guess it's not really something you choose. I mean, for as long as we've all known Ling, Watanuki still started off wielding him better than any of us. The people from this world are always saying resonation doesn't necessarily depend on friendship, and that does seem to be the case. It's just..." Something you know sounded like a cop-out, but Al wasn't sure how to do the description justice. "It's about being compatible as a team."

Which wasn't to say he didn't view Badou as a friend, but he could see why becoming partners with someone in a relatively short amount of time could be thought of as a pretty big leap. "Badou helped me out when I really needed it, so it just seemed right to keep working together after we found out we could resonate."

She nodded at that. It made sense, and she really did like Badou. True, she knew Heine a bit more than him, but it was obvious the two were close, and that was good enough for her.

She turned to Ed. "What about you, Ed? Have you thought at all about who you might partner with?"

He nodded as he listened to Al's description, lining it up to his experiences with Lenalee - even if he didn't know her that well and hadn't seen her in a fight, they'd been able to resonate that one time. He had to wonder what when I really needed it meant, but he'd save that question for later.

"Not really," he admitted to Winry, not mentioning how sure he'd been that he wouldn't be here long enough to need it - and did that really matter, now? - "But I guess I know who it might be."

If she agreed, which was the big thing.

Al looked up at Ed's sudden change of heart, but he understood where his brother was coming from. To an extent they'd all held out on trying to get involved here, but if even Winry was determined to become part of the fighting then finding a partner was the inevitable choice.

Al didn't know the girl Ed had resonated with very well, but she seemed nice enough, if a bit strange for that incident with the stairs. "Are you going to ask her?"

"Lenalee? Really?" Yet another unexpected partnership, and rather curious that it should be someone so closely related to Miranda. Still that was a person she definitely felt she could trust with Edward.

"What, you know her?" Ed asked, surprised despite the fact that most of Death City seemed to know Winry. At Al's question, he added, "Probably. Dunno if she's really looking for a Meister, though."

"I'd be surprised if she wasn't." As far as Al knew, Lenalee had been in the city long enough to understand the necessity of partnerships. (Come to think of it, the first time he'd seen her name mentioned was on the same missing persons list as Ed's. Most likely a coincidence, but a troubling one nonetheless.)

"She only figured out her Weapon form recently, right?"

Winry nodded "We've met and talked a couple times before. She and Miranda and good friends, and from the same world."

Winry would have to agree with Al on that one, if Lenalee was from the Black Order, than she was probably accustomed to fighting and war, so she was sure she'd most likely want to join the effort, if only for the sake of her friends.

"Did she? What is it?"

He looked surprised at that. "They are?"

Which meant that Miranda was possibly also a part of the Order Allen had mentioned - may even know him - which...and now that he thought about it, she'd even mentioned being in some kind of Order at the carnival, hadn't she?

"A ring. Probably big enough to fit around someone's wrist." He gestured with his hands to indicate a big-ish round thing.

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And you delivered me from danger then [closed]

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