Title: Don't Know Why I Trust You
Pairing: ScarxWinry
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Yes, for the manga up to chapter 72
Warnings: none
30nights Theme: I feel safe with you by my side
Disclaimer: Hiromu Arakawa owns these guys, not me.
A/N: Well, surprises upon surprises, I did not in fact die or fall off the face of the planet since I last updated Brothers. And I do apologize for how long that's taking with the next chapter, by the way, I'm afraid I've been rather distracted from it. School, other writing projects, a pretty involving RP, etc. And yet another surprise, I'm actually writing a pairing! After the last few chapters in the manga, I decided that I really like the potential for ScarxWinry, and took up a livejournal challenge called 30nights for it, along with a friend, and decided to put them up here as well. Also, this was written before chapter 73 came out, so obviously it doesn't mesh with what actually happened after 72, please don't point this out because I already know. And with that, on with the story!
Winry wondered why she had ever agreed to this plan in the first place, to being 'kidnapped' by the man who had killed her parents and so many other people. True, going back to being a real hostage to be used against Ed and Al was unthinkable, and apparently they needed Scar alive and free to translate those notes that Marcoh-san had spoken of, but all the same she didn't like this much at all. Her ribs were sore from the way he was holding her as he ran through back alleys to escape from Kimbley's men, and her heart was pounding with fear that they might be caught. Eventually it seemed as though they would be cornered, but Scar managed to turn into another alley and caught sight of several pipes protruding from a building, close to the ground and several of them looking to be just barely big enough for the big Ishbalan to fit inside. There were grates covering the openings, but one of them was loose, and Winry could hear soldiers getting closer to their location; even if it would be a tight fit, there was nowhere else they could hide, and Scar couldn't fight with both his injury and her to watch out for. Scar seemed to be thinking the same thing, as he only hesitated for a moment before hurrying over to pull the grate away from the opening and sliding them both inside the pipe, pulling the grate back into place behind them.
It was an even tighter fit than it had looked like initially, and Scar was forced to hold Winry close against his chest as he scooted inside as far as he could before running into a far more secure grate. By this time they could both hear soldiers in the alleyway outside their hiding place, who fortunately did not seem to think to look inside the pipe. Unfortunately, this meant that they could not afford the noise and light that would come from destroying the grate to gain access to the building and more room. Especially more room, Winry thought as she resisted the urge to squirm away from Scar. She was in his lap, and having to lean against his chest while his neck was bent enough for his chin to be resting on her head. There was no room to move away without causing enough noise to draw attention to them, as much as she wanted to at least get off of his lap. Bandaging his arm to keep him from bleeding to death was one thing, agreeing to go with him to get away from Kimbley was another, but this was going quite a bit too far for Winry. It was one of the most tense, uncomfortable situations she'd been in for some time now, but somehow she didn't feel threatened by his proximity as much as she thought she would be. He was an extremely dangerous serial killer, he had murdered her parents, so why wasn't she more afraid of him? Even if he had assured her before she'd agreed to this that he wouldn't harm her, she shouldn't feel so...safe with him.
Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps in the snow outside their hiding place, and for a terrifying moment she thought they'd been found, but the footsteps continued past. She shivered as she heard Kimbley's smooth voice, which had once seemed friendly and charming, but now sounded dangerous and snakelike and more frightening than even Scar could ever be. She could have sworn that she felt Scar's grip tighten protectively around her just a little bit.
"Search every sector until you find him, and remember that he has a hostage now. Do not engage him until I am there, understood? Get the girl away if you can, but the Ishbalan is mine."
"Yes, sir!" a soldier's voice replied, "We'll start in this area, he couldn't have gotten too far so quickly."
"Just see that you find him."
Winry had felt Scar tense until he was nearly shaking while Kimbley spoke, looking up to see that he was glaring out the grate with eyes blazing with hatred and teeth bared in a silent snarl. He looked so terrifyingly furious that Winry flinched down away from him, the movement seeming to startle him out of at least part of his anger. He looked down at her, and at the somewhat frightened look in her eyes she thought she might have seen a flash of guilt pass over his expression before he schooled his face out of the threatening expression he had been wearing previously before looking away.
She didn't know how long they remained in that pipe, unable to speak or even move for fear of being discovered, but the sun had long set before they could be sure that there were no more soldiers in the immediate area. And even then they could not leave the pipe; the blizzard that had been building earlier had begun with a fury, and it wouldn't be safe for them to leave their shelter now, no matter how meager it was. Not that either of them were particularly minding their current close position, no matter how awkward it was. The two of them were by now huddled against each other, both shivering as the wind whistled through the outer grate and chilled them to the bone.
"C-can't you g-get through the g-grate now?" Winry said, glancing somewhat longingly farther down the pipe where it would presumably lead into the building itself.
Scar shook his head, "The metal will shatter. It isn't s-safe," even he couldn't keep from shivering enough not to stutter.
"Oh..." Winry looked down and fell silent, not knowing what to say or even if she should say anything. Scar was dangerous, she had to keep reminding herself of that. She couldn't let herself be lulled into a sense of security around him, no matter how unthreatening he seemed at the moment. For all she knew she was walking on thin ice already, and he could snap at any moment. Even if he didn't seem to be like that, even if he had sworn over and over to Ed and Al that he wouldn't hurt her before they would allow her to go with him...even if he'd seemed to mean it. She couldn't let herself trust her parents' killer like this, she couldn't--
Another strong gust of wind howled past the outer grate, sending snow swirling in towards them. At the intense cold that came with it, Winry, almost on reflex, huddled closer to Scar before realizing what she was doing and tensing. She could have almost cried from frustration. Why couldn't she keep herself from trusting him? He was a killer and yet she felt such a feeling of safety with him after less than a day. She nearly jumped when she saw his arm move, freezing in something close to panic as she realized that it was his right arm and it was headed towards her face. Scar froze when she startled, his hand staying still for a few long moments before tentatively continuing until his fingers brushed against her chin, curling under it so that he could gently tilt her face up. All was done slowly, hesitantly, as though he were trying not to frighten her, and it was only because of this that Winry did not try to squirm away from his hand as she looked into his deep crimson eyes. Their faces were so close that she could feel his breath on her face, and she couldn't help the slight blush that was beginning to rise in her cheeks. A part of her was frightened, as she truly realized that she was alone in close quarters with a dangerous man who could easily overpower her should he wish to, and their somewhat compromising position and the way he was holding her chin was doing nothing to help this fear. A part of her still insisted on trusting him, and another, smaller part of her was almost allured by him. Her blush intensified slightly as she stomped this part down into the very back of her mind as far as it would go. Between these conflicting emotions she was paralyzed, and she could do nothing but stare into his eyes as a look of what seemed almost to be concern flickered across them. Abruptly he let go of her chin, pulling his hand away as though he'd been burned and refusing to meet her eyes again as he looked off to the side.
Scar's brow furrowed as though he were having an internal debate, and the next gust of wind and snow that caused Winry to shiver even more seemed to decide whatever it was and he carefully nudged her back away from him somewhat. She confusedly leaned back the rest of the way until her back was against the cold metal of the pipe, wondering if she'd done something or he'd become annoyed with her closeness and wanted her away. His stony expression revealed no hints as to his thoughts, and he wasn't saying anything either. Then he began opening his coat, and some of the fear that had taken root when he'd tilted her chin up began to return. She tried to keep it out of her expression, but it probably didn't matter whether she did or not because he wasn't looking at her and seemed to be focusing entirely on his coat. Before long it was open, revealing nothing but a shirt underneath it, and she wondered at how he wasn't shivering more than he was. He pulled back the right side with his one good arm as though as an invitation, still looking off to the side rather than at her. It may have been her imagination, but Winry could have sworn that he looked almost awkward as he finally spoke.
"Here," he said, and when Winry didn't move he glanced up at her and then away again. This time she knew that she'd seen hesitance in his face, and it looked almost alien on him. Scar mumbled his next words, his scowl deepening and his voice gruff with what seemed nearly to be embarrassment, "You're turning blue."
Winry's mouth formed an 'O' as she realized what he was trying to say, and she felt almost silly for her fear. Tentatively she leaned forward again, ready to jerk back at any indication that she'd misunderstood, until she was once more huddled against his chest. He then pulled his coat closed around her just as tentatively as she had been moving. She could feel the difference in temperature almost immediately, nearly sighing in relief at the warmth. He was warm, even as cold as it was, and it seemed strange and surprising that someone with such a stony persona could be so warm. She could even hear his heartbeat now, feel it against the side of her face. It was a strangely comforting noise, and that combined with the warmth and the rhythm of his breathing was lulling her into even more of a sense of safety than she had been in before.
As the night dragged on she forgot her fear of him, and for just this little while, she forgot the killings, even those of her parents a little. By the time the storm had passed and the two could finally possibly leave, she had fallen asleep against him, completely hypnotized by the steady beat of his heart.
A/N: Yes I am in fact aware that you should never fall asleep when it's cold, and also that I severely underestimated that blizzard when I wrote this. I talked with my dad (who is a surgeon) about it and he said that since she was warm when she fell asleep and that it wasn't because she was freezing to death that it still wasn't all that great of an idea, but she wouldn't die from it.