EMPTY.

Ed was no idiot. It was obvious he wasn't, he had been studying alchemy forever, deciphering text that most adults couldn't comprehend. Winry knew that with every fiber of her being. Ed knew that Winry knew that. But for the life of him he couldn't understand why she thought he could keep brushing her off without him wondering.

It had started off like any other time he had dropped by unexpectedly. Some of the wiring was fraying and Ed had tried to repair it too late, causing everything to break down. Al had insisted on visiting Winry earlier, but Ed would have nothing of it. Eventually it came to the point where Al had to drag Ed to the station and force him to pay for some tickets to Rush Valley.

Winry wasn't too happy to say the least.

What was odd however was that she didn't try to repair him instantly. Usually she would attempt to rip his arm off before he even had a chance to even explain himself. But instead of throwing her wrench she simply told him to wait for her.

And he waited, and waited, and waited. Ed never really had much patience, but even Al was beginning to wonder what was taking Winry so long. Paninya had even dropped by in the span of them waiting. Paninya had asked if they wanted to go off and see more of Rush Valley, but since Ed had to wait for stupid Winry, Al was the only one able to leave.

Lucky.

After much more waiting, Winry finally came down, giving Ed the once over before telling him to go to the work bench and get ready.

Ed had no idea why she had taken so long, but he wasn't going to waltz around the subject.

"What was that about?" He asked once she began tinkering with his wiring, already deciding that she wouldn't have to remove the arm to give the necessary repairs.

Winry gave him a quizzical look, "What are you talking about?" she asked, adjusting a wire.

"Why'd you take so long?" he rephrased the question, staring at the ceiling, "It isn't like you, no wrench to the head, no yelling of any sort…" he trailed off, looking to his right to look at Winry.

He noticed that instead of her normal tube top she was wearing a longer t-shirt. "And you're dressing weirdly." He commented.

A sigh escaped her lips, "It's nothing, Ed."

"But, Winry, you hate wearing longer shirts when working, it gets in the way and you get hot and…" he trailed off once more, at a loss for what to say. Ed never really had a way with words.

She ignored his rambling, grabbing some bolts from a tin can beside her. She cursed as some fell from her hands.

"You also aren't clumsy."

Winry shot him a glare and bent over to pick up the bolts that were now sprawled around the floor. Ed took a chance and glanced over; he saw her shirt rising up a bit revealing some discolored skin.

"Woah, wait," he said, sitting up and brushing his flesh hand along Winry's back. He felt her tense up, and even heard the slight intake of breath that meant she was in pain.

"Winry?" he asked, worry coloring his voice.

"I told you Ed, it's nothing."

"Nothing my ass."

"Will you grow up?"

"Only if you tell me what the hell happened!"

His face was red with fury, but his eyes betrayed his anger. Winry wasn't clumsy, never late, never contained, restricted. Ed felt like he was having a conversation with someone who was trying to pass as Winry's clone; Winry's genetic make-up, but none of her passion, none of her stubbornness. Her eyes were empty, sad, and dull. Winry was fiery, passionate, bright, he couldn't find a trace of that.

"Please?" he added as an afterthought, his tone soft and raspy.

"I'm a closet klutz. That's it." Winry mumbled, sitting back down on her stool to continue her work on his arm. Ignoring his eyes, she couldn't look into his eyes.

Ed huffed, "Bull."

"What if I am? You wouldn't even know, you aren't around enough."

"So that's what it's about, because I'm not around?"

"No, it's not Ed,"

"Then what is it?"

"Can we drop it?"

"I'm not an idiot you know! I know something's wrong! Why can't you give me a straight forward answer, none of this rhetorical crap?"

Winry slammed her screwdriver against the table, giving up on trying to work and argue with Ed at the same time. "Fine, you wanna know?" She asked, a fire burning in her eyes that was previously missing. She stood up, and looked him straight in the face, making eye contact with his wide gold eyes as she lifted her shirt just below her ribcage to show him the discolored skin. It was raw, ugly purples and blacks coloring the middle while the outer edges were a dull blue.

"Some sleazy guy had me take a house call. I went there and the drunken bastard thought I was some play thing." She shouted her voice breaking as she emptied all of her feelings, "He grabbed me, but I punched him in the nose and kneed him in the groin and got away."

She slumped down in her stool, her eyes still burning with fire, not even realizing she was telling Ed something she couldn't even tell Paninya. "It's been a couple days and the bastard is probably rotting in a cell." She said, voice going raspy, as she finished out her tale, "It'll heal soon, okay?"

Ed sat, flabbergasted, not knowing what to say as Winry began screwing the bolt that she had left half done on his arm. He couldn't think of the words to say, his mouth hung open still trying to absorb and comprehend what the hell happened. His mouth opened and closed in an attempt to get words out, but nothing came to him. Her words filtered through his brain, house call, grabbed, sleazy, bastard. Words that Winry never used to describe people, much less customers, she must've been holding in her emotions, something Winry hardly ever did.

The force of her story finally hit him. Winry didn't want people fussing over her, especially over something that in her mind, could've been prevented.

"You're done." Winry finally announced, beginning to put her tools back in place.

Ed grabbed her hand, the metal sent shivers down Winry's spine as she recalled the event that had happened a couple days prior. The images flashing before her eyes like a movie. The guy pinning her against the wall, his automail hands squeezing her hips, the scream she let out as he threw her against the wall. Tears began welling in her eyes, threatening to pour over.

"… Come here," he said, pulling Winry close, as her tears began to overflow leaving symmetrical trails down her cheeks. His arms encircled her as she cried into his shoulder.

"I used to have nightmares," he said once her crying subsided and only her breathing was abnormal. "About my mom, after… ya know, that night."

Winry hiccupped, lifting her head away from his shoulder to look him in the eye. Her eyes, tinged red around the edges from her crying, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I figured I owe you something, Equivalent Exchange and all." He said quietly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, in a rare moment of affection. He saw the dull cloud fade from her eyes, revealing a bright blue shine.

Winry nodded, placing her head on his shoulder. "Thanks," she murmured, "to think an idiot like you would be able to see right through me."

"I'm not an idiot, and you know it," He said sarcastically.

I sincerely hope that everything is in character, considering this is my first time writing something related to FMA. Also, please excuse the crappy cliche plot, it's a plot bunny that has been bugging me for sometime now and it won't let me sleep. Additionally, it's currently 3 in the morning so excuse the horrible grammar too.