"So, you know who I am." Ed forced himself to stop screaming so he could buy some time to think of a plan to get Winry out of here.

"Yes, Ms. Winry here told us. But of course, I didn't believe her at first. The thought that we had a State Alchemist in our possession was absurd. So-" Vidal brushed Winry's hair back behind her ear, she flinched at his touch. "I had to make sure she was telling the truth."

Ed's eyes widened, Winry's earrings had been ripped out, leaving her ears torn and bloody.

"After I took out those earrings, she still stuck to her story, so now I can be certain that she was telling the truth, and that you really are Edward Elric." Vidal smiled maliciously.

"You bastard!" Ed couldn't stop himself from screaming now as he struggled against his bonds. Two drops of blood hit the hard stone floor in sync, one from Ed's mangled hand and one from Winry's ear. "You know, I wasn't going to kill you when I got out, but now you've just dug your own grave! I'll send you to hell myself!"

"I put up with your insults and taunts before, Elric, but no longer." Vidal reached into his pocket and took out a flip knife. He opened it and placed it on Winry's upper arm. "And this is for all the trouble you've caused me!"

"DON'T!" Ed cried out in desperation as Vidal smoothly pulled on the knife and Winry screamed into her gag. A thin string of red followed the knife's path as Vidal lowered it and flicked the tip to remove the access blood. The precious red droplets flew through the air and splattered on the ground. "WINRY!"

Tears rolled down Winry's face and blood ran down her arm, soaking her jumpsuit.

Ed clenched his teeth to keep from shouting every insult he could think of at Vidal. "Why you-"

"Ah-ah-ah," Vidal placed the knife tip on Winry's cheek and she squeezed her eyes shut at the touch of the cool metal, "are you sure you want to finished that sentence?"

Ed shut his mouth but an unstoppable torrent of anger boiled just under his skin. If I'm not careful I could say something rash and put Winry through even more pain. Pangs of guilt made it hard for him to even look at Winry. She always gets hurt because of me, all I do is bring pain and suffering to everyone I'm close to. He hung his head, Al, Granny, Winry, Brigadier General Hughes and his family, Colonel Mustang...all of them hurt because of me and my naivety. And I might not be able to fix this one…

"Good. That's much better." Vidal removed the knife but kept it open and in his grasp. "Now we can finally have a civil conversation."

"Winry, I'm sorry." Ed whispered, his head still hung low. "You got dragged into this because of me."

Ed's eyes unwillingly watered as the voice in the back of his head kept repeating: all your fault, all your fault, Winry's gonna die and it's all your fault.

"Yes she did. It's your fault she's here now. You owe it to her to cooperate." Vidal spoke with confidence, he knew he had won.

Clenching his teeth, Ed thought hard. There has to be a way out of this, there has to…

"So," Vidal smiled again, "are you going to tell me what I need to know, or am I going to have to 'motivate' you some more?" He held up the bloody knife to the light and pretended to examine it.

"Okay! Okay, I'll tell you whatever you need to know. Just let Winry and Alphonse go." Ed tried to sound composed, but he couldn't keep a desperate tone from entering his voice.

"Ah yes, Alphonse Elric. He's your little brother isn't he? Or, he used to be anyway."

"He's still my little brother!"

"Do you really think that?" Vidal looked at Ed inquisitively. "But he's just a walking suit of armor with a soul attached. He's hardly human. Would you still consider him human if he couldn't walk or talk? If, for example, you had attached his soul to a chair? He's no longer human, only a memory of one. Could you even be certain that there's a human soul in there? A soul isn't something you can see or feel, for all you know he could be made entirely of memories from your own mind."

"He's human and has a human soul, Alphonse Elric's soul!...my little brother's soul. We considered that possibility already and proved it wrong." Ed paused and took a deep breath. "Just, let Winry and him go and I'll tell you whatever you want. Please, just let them go."

Vidal raised his eyebrows, "I'm liking this new attitude Elric! But you and I both know that if simply let them go right now, you won't tell me a single thing. So I'll keep them until I have what I need."

"No." Ed stared straight into Vidal's golden eyes that were so much like his own, "I won't tell you anything until I know they're safe. I have no guarantee that after I tell you what you want you won't kill them both. So if you want to know how I can transmute without a circle, then you'll have to let them go first."

"No can do. Then we'd have nothing to hold you to your side of the deal. So, looks like we'll have to do it the hard way." Vidal pressed the knife back up against Winry's cheek, drawing a few small drops of blood.

"Stop! Stop!" Ed pleaded. So this is why Musuke was so insistent that I pretend to not know Al, he knew they would use anyone they could against me.

"Then start talking." This time Vidal didn't remove the knife but he did let off some of the pressure.

"Just-" Ed looked into Winry's eyes and saw the same fear he felt reflected in them. I have to be strong, for the both of us. "Just let Winry go then! Keep Al here as a hostage if you have to just let her go, she has nothing to do with this, she doesn't know anything."

"Hm," Vidal seemed to contemplate the idea, "I'd have to think about it and talk to the other Brothers."

"Please." God I sound so pathetic, but if it gets Winry to safety it's more than worth losing a bit of my pride.

"Fine. I'll go speak with the others. In the meantime, I'll let you two have a nice little chat. I'm sure Ms. Winry will have some choice words for you, Fullmetal." Vidal undid Winry's gag and waved to them as he walked away.

As soon as he heard the door close Ed examined Winry to see if any of the wounds were serious. "Winry, are you okay?"

"ED YOU IDIOT!"

"Your gag is off for not even a second and you're already yelling at me!" Ed harrumphed, "Typical."

"Ed…" Winry said softly.

Ed looked back towards her and saw tears streaming down her face. No please don't cry Winry. I'm so sorry please don't cry.

"What," she sniffed, "what did they do to you?"

"Huh? Oh you mean this?" He glanced at his broken fingers. "Just a few broken fingers. I've been through worse." He tried to smile to reassure her. "Are your ears and arm okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She forced a smile to match his, "Like you said, we've been through worse right?"

Ed's smile faltered, "Winry I'm-"

"Don't you dare say it Edward." She said sternly.

"Say what? You didn't even know what I was going to say-"

"Yes I do. And I swear if the words 'I'm sorry' come out of your mouth I'll make sure to reconnect the nerves twice as hard when I fix your arm." The tears stopped flowing and only determination remained in her eyes. "You can't blame yourself for everything, Ed. I was the one who came looking for you, it's my fault I'm here now." Her eyes softened and she glanced down. "It's my fault that you have to tell these people about your alchemy. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"You came looking for me?" Ed felt his cheeks get warm. "Why?"

"You and Al left the hotel for a quick errand, helping someone rebuild their house that you accidently destroyed or something, and you didn't come back. After a few hours I got a little worried, but when you two were gone for ten hours and I hadn't heard anything I thought something must've gone wrong." She glanced back up at him, "Of course I went looking."

Ed sighed, "You have nothing to be sorry for. I dragged you into this, and I'm going to get us out, alright?"

Winry smiled, "Alright."

"Look Winry, if he decides to let you go I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"If you get out of here, I need you to get as far away from here as possible. Go somewhere you have no connection to and lay low. They'll probably blindfold you when you leave so you won't know where this is, so contacting anyone like the military for help won't do much good. Me and Al can find a way out, I need you to promise me that you'll stay far away from here and stay out of sight."

"I can't just abandon you two!"

"You have to!" Ed laid his head back against the chair, "You have to Winry, there's no other way. I won't have you get caught up in the aftermath of my mistakes any longer."

"You always do this!" Winry shouted, causing Ed to jump. "You always shut me out! Did it ever once cross your alchemy infested mind that, just maybe, I could help?! I'm not the damsel in distress you think I am, Ed, I can handle myself! And if you'd just talk to me-"

She was cut off by Ed's laughter. He was hunched over and convulsing from the intensity of it.

"Why are you laughing!? I'm serious! Ed!"

"I know, I know." Ed wheezed, "It's just, you honestly think I see you as some damsel in distress that always needs saving?"

"Well, don't you?" Winry asked tentatively. "That's why you're always pushing me away."

Ed laughed again, "Of course not you idiot! How many times have you beat the shit out of me for breaking my automail? It's not that I don't think you're tough, in fact you're much tougher than me, it's that you shouldn't have to be."

Winry sat in stunned silence and Ed donned a sad smile. "It's not that I think you can't handle what me and Al do, it's that you don't need to. Me and Al are battling our sins, we chose this path, intentionally or not, and are suffering the consequences of our choices. We have to do this, Win, we have to pay the toll, but you don't."

Winry blinked at him a few times before rolling her eyes and sighing in exasperation. "You're just really that clueless, aren't you?"

"Who are you calling clueless you gearhead!"

"Who are you calling a gearhead you little runt!"

"LOOSE BOLT!"

"MICROSCOPIC SHRIMP!"

"Why you-"

The door slammed open and Vidal stepped in. "Edward Elric, the Brothers and I have reached a verdict."

He walked towards Winry and Ed's heart lept, please let her go.

Vidal replaced the gag over her mouth and loosened the straps around her legs. Winry locked eyes with Ed for a second and he was shocked to see a fire burning bright with anger to rival Izumi Curtis. The instant her left leg was free she flung her foot at Vidal and it landed on the side of his head with a crack.

Ed sat stunned as Vidal slumped to the floor, unconscious. "Winry what the hell-"

"Oh shut up Ed," She finished undoing the last strap on her wrist and immediately started undoing his. "I told you, I can handle myself."

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Ed sighed in relief as the tight straps loosened.

"Then stop breaking your automail!" Winry unhooked the last buckle, "There!"

"Did I ever tell you how scary you are when you're pissed?" He stretched out his legs and took a good look at his hand. I can't even pick anything up like this right now, let alone draw a transmutation circle. Ed glanced at the limp Vidal. "Help me tie him up with these straps."

Winry nodded and they finished wrapping him tight quickly. "We need to hurry, I didn't manage to hit him square on the head so he won't be out for much longer."

Ed nodded, "Right. Let's clear out and find Al, if he's still in one piece." Hold on Al, we're coming. Just hold on a little longer.