The Phoenix and His Demons

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As always, the usual disclaimers apply; the only thing I own are the original characters. For everything else see the warnings in the prologue.

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Better Left Unanswered

The sun crashed through the window, waking the youth ungraciously and for all it\'s trouble was rewarded with a muttered grumble as he rolled over and pulled a pillow over his head. Downstairs voices could already be heard excitedly discussing the young alchemist\'s return as well as what he thought were wedding plans and other bits of business. He desperately wanted to go back to sleep but the relentless light wouldn\'t allow it. Grudgingly he sat up and climbed out of bed, pulling on his pants, boots and a sleeveless shirt. He ran fingers though his hair but didn\'t comb it more than that for now, wasn\'t exactly an easy task to maintain long hair with only one hand. A lazy yawn accompanied him as he made his way downstairs towards the unmistakable smell of food, pausing in the doorway to watch the trio in the kitchen. They all looked so happy and he was glad to see that his friend had found someone that obvious made her smile so much.

\"Edward, you\'re up early. Come, sit down and eat then we\'ll get to work on your arm.\" Leave it to Winry to notice him loitering again. He flushed a bit but took a seat at the table.

\"Well, young man I see you\'ve been getting into more trouble again. And just how do you expect to pay for it this time, hmm?\"

\"I um...well..\" Leave it to the old bag to come up with a welcome like that.

\"Oh hush. Hasn\'t he been through enough already? It\'s enough to know he\'s alive, he deserves this one on the house. Besides, he\'s family!\" They continued their bickering back and forth for a few minutes. While it sounded fierce it was normal and just one of the ways they showed they loved each other. He\'d missed it, even if he wouldn\'t admit it.

\"So Marcus, how long did it take you to get used to this place.\" He\'d made himself a plate, skipping the milk with a death glare that could\'ve curdled it on sight and took the opportunity to have a few words with his, wwell...soon to be sort of brother in law. After all Winry was like a sister to them.

\"To be honest with you, I\'m still not sure I\'m used to it yet. It\'s kinda odd to hear people being threatened with wrenches all the time and not know if it\'s serious or not. How about you?\"

\"Well, I grew up with it, so I guess I\'ve just always been used to it.\" He gave a shrug as he stuffed a bite of pancake into his mouth. \"So how\'d you two meet?\"

\"I was in Central working on a car that had broken down in front of the train station when out steps this beautiful blonde carrying a huge wrench and swearing she was going to bash someone\'s head in for being and idiot and trying to get himself killed. Turns out she was talking about your brother and had come to talk him out of taking the state alchemy test. That didn\'t work so well. Anyway, I was stunned and just stared and stared and didn\'t notice the runaway baggage cart that threw me right on top of her. She screamed, I got called a pervert and when she asked what I had to say for myself...all I could think of was \'That\'s an awfully beautiful wrench you got there.\' \" He had to pause there to wait for Ed to stop choking on his pancakes, not to mention he was blushing.

\"Hey, stop laughing Edward...it was romantic. You know how much I love my tools.\" Pinako rapped the blonde on the back a few times until he caught his breath, muttered something about children and went to go prepare the room for Ed\'s procedure.

\"Sorry Winry but it is funny, and it\'s so like you.\" He did stop laughing though the snickers continued.

\"Anyway, she gushed, I asked her out and well..here we are. I\'ve been working here about a year now and I must say my love is truly a brilliant mechanic.\"

\"That she is, saved my ass more times than my pride\'ll let me admit and that\'s probably not going to stop anytime soon. So...am I invited to the wedding whenever you decide on a date?\"

\"Of course,\" they both answered at once, the young man seemingly a bit more relieved with each mention that confirmed Ed had no intentions of trying to steal Winry away.

\"Great and breakfast was awesome. So when do we get started?\" Winry rolled her eyes and the pair cleaned up from breakfast when they were all finished. Pinako already had the room ready and while he despised it, Ed knew exactly what was going to happen. Obediently and without complaint he took a seat so they could start work on his shoulder, only to give Marcus an odd look when he approached holding a syringe. \"Um, just what do you think you\'re going to do with that?\"

\"It\'s an anesthetic, it\'ll numb the area and lesson the pain.\"

\"Um, no thanks. Look, if you\'re worried about your eardrums, don\'t...it hurts like hell but they couldn\'t even get me to scream when I was twelve. Besides, I don\'t like needles or drugs.\" Marcus gave the girls a questioning look but when they both nodded he conceded with a nod to Ed and backed off. \"So how long is this going to take? A day, two?\"

\"Please. Don\'t insult me Edward. With the three of us working on it, just the arm..we should be able to have you all fixed up by tonight.\"

\"Sounds great ya old bag and I promise as soon as they give me all my back pay, I\'ll pay you back. I promise.\"

\"Back pay? You mean you\'re going back to the military?\" Winry almost dropped her wrench at that and sent her friend a disapproving glare.

\"I have to Winry. It\'s the only way I\'m gonna track down Al quickly and besides, it\'s what I\'m good at. I don\'t like being their dog but while I was...I helped out a lot of people. It\'s not about getting our bodies back to normal anymore;it\'s about using the talents we have to keep balance. We work for the military but we also work for the people to make sure the military doesn\'t get out of hand. Sometimes it\'s not all that great and sometimes things don\'t work out like planned, not to mention having to deal with that arrogant, egotistical bastard of a Colonel; I\'m REALLY not looking forward to that.\" Okay, maybe he was but he didn\'t have to admit that either though Pinako scoffed at his words and Winry rolled her eyes. They weren\'t as blind as he thought they were.

\"Well, I don\'t like it...but at least if you go back then we\'ll now Al\'s in good hands. I worry about him a lot. Not to mention all the money we\'ll make off you being stupid and screwing up my wonderful handiwork.\"

\"Uh, gee thanks Winry. You\'re confidence is...overwhelming.\" That couldn\'t have been said any drier if he was in a desert. That was the end of conversation for a while, a long while. True to his word he didn\'t complain much about the pain the attachment caused, though being still wasn\'t as easy and that\'s another reason Winry was glad to have Marcus around; he could help hold Ed down for the worst parts. Finally, just as the sun was starting to set they finished, leaving an exhausted Edward to drag himself up to bed to sleep off some of the pain before dinner.

This time it was a knock at his door that woke him, calling him to dinner or at least letting him know it was ready. He gave a groggy answer that he thought sounded something like \"I\'ll be right there,\" but there was really no telling what he\'d said. Another quick shower to rinse off the sheen of sweat from the day and then he set to work on his hair now that he could comb it out and braid it properly. When he was done he stood looking down at his hands with a soft sigh. \"Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.\" Wistful thoughts, but he really wasn\'t too upset by it. He showed a little more life when he got downstairs for dinner, even if he was exhausted he\'d put on a good show for those he cared about and the conversation was light and fun until inevitably the question was brought up by Winry, the one he dreaded.

\"So Ed, where exactly Have you been all this time?\"

That stopped him dead in his tracks, a bit of steak halfway to his mouth, leaving him looking like a stunned fish before he snapped back to his senses, gulped and composed himself. The fork was laid down and he looked down at his plate silently wondering how much he was ready to talk about.

She\'d seen the look on his face when she\'d asked and regretted it immediately, but it took a good two minutes of complete silence in the room before she spoke up again. \"I\'m sorry Ed, I...I should\'ve known you wouldn\'t want to talk about it. I won\'t bring it up again.\"

\"No...\" It was a deep, resigned sigh that he expressed as he looked up at them. \"It\'s just, it\'s not pleasant. I landed in another world in the middle of a war and I saw a lot of horrible things. I\'m...I\'m not ready to talk about those yet. To be honest I\'m not sure if I ever will be. You deserve a better explanation than that, you really do and I know Al will want one, but...I just don\'t know what else to say. \"

\"It\'s all right, Ed, you don\'t have to just...remember we\'re hear if you need someone to talk to. You don\'t have to be the only one that carries a burden after all.\"

\"I know Win, I know and I appreciate it. Just, for now...some things are better left unsaid.\" That was the last they spoke of it for the night and within a few minutes the conversation was back to it\'s cheerful self. It was quite late when they all retired to bed, knowing full well Ed would be leaving for the train station in the morning and Pinako had been kind enough to give him enough money for a ticket and a couple of meals to which he repaid her with a kiss atop her head. Out of character but he really was grateful. Winry\'s goodbye was a hug and kiss to the cheek, Marcus a handshake and he promised to keep in touch better than he used to. Then again he had to with Winry threatening him bodily harm and refusing to fix his automail if he banged it up again.

Once again he left the sleepy little town of Resembool and was on his way to Central. The trip would take three days, not so much because of distance but because of the schedule he\'d happened upon. That meant a lot of sleeping on station benches and in the uncomfortable rumbling of the train. Though it was good for one thing, the long ride helped him plan and plot for how he was going to announce his return to his CO and the others. Were they even still alive? He had to hope so and so he violently shook the thought from his head, unwilling to accept even the remote possibility. Thus, it was a very cranky Fullmetal that got off the train in Central at an ungodly hour in the morning; something like three o\'clock.