Worlds Collide

A/N: Nomme de Plume, I have seen the movie, but no telling with the plot (Besides, I haven't figured everything out with it just yet). TrulyWished, last chapter, Roy was 30 and Ed was 17, it only took place about three months after the last story, and Ed had his birthday during it. However, we're skipping more than a year for this chapter. Basically, this storyis a series of moments leading up to the conflict. dancingpixies, thanks. Here's another chapter. 4thcry, I thought Ed would be a good father, Wrath, yeah, there's more of him. and yes, I knew thel emon was coming early. Blissful Ignorance, everyone thinks the uncle bit was so funny, and I'm glad, even though I really don't do much with it. Amethyst-eyed Koneko, Roy uses his age as an excuse. Honestly, he threw his back out, age or not, I'd imagine after lugging Ed around for so much of the last story, he put a strain on it. I'm trying to make sure that the story reads Edward for Earth and Ed, so let me know if I slip up.

Chapter 3

Moments of Understanding

One year, three months later

London

Wrath took a stance ready to attack, watching the older blond across the yard from him. The thirteen-year-old charged at the young man, finding himself on the receiving end of a forceful punch. Dropping to the ground, Wrath kicked his leg out, toppling the eighteen-year-old on top of him.

“Not bloody fair! You used your feet,” Edward said, rolling off of Wrath and onto the grass.

“I asked you to spar. I didn’t say box. The only rules on my world are no hitting the head or groin.”

Wrath stood, breathing a bit heavily, still recovering from the impact of Edward’s much older and heavier body slamming into his own.

“Edward,” Hohenheim called, “your mail’s here!”

“You must have another letter from Alfons,” Wrath said as he ran ahead of the blond into the house.

After a particularly close scare with Envy, the three had moved as a group to a tiny home on the outskirts of the city. The serpent-like creature, having decided that this Edward must have been the Ed from their world, would easily have killed him and didn’t seem any friendlier to Wrath than when the older homunculus had been in a human form. His fury at Hohenheim, however, seemed unmatched, and despite the myth hunters and government interest in this strange creature, Envy was growing more daring in order to get his creator.

As Edward took the envelope from his cousin off of the small kitchen table, Wrath grabbed an apple from the counter. He loved food, though he tried desperately not to over-indulge. He had never gotten to really eat before and actually feel sated after doing it. He couldn’t deny it was a very good feeling.

“It amazes me how diligent the two of you are writing one another,” the older man said, rinsing off a few plates left over from lunch. It was one of the rare times when Wrath wasn’t more or less left to fend for himself at the meal, as both Edward and Hohenheim were home. “I would imagine that getting letters to Germany from England and vice versa would be more than a bit daunting at times.”

“It can be,” Edward answered as he read over the letter. “Lately his letters have been making me a little jealous. He’s working for a group called the Thule Society, and they’re more or less giving him free rein with his research. Most scientists would give an arm and leg for that. I would.”

“Please don’t joke about that,” Wrath said, part of the apple still in his mouth, seeing that he wasn’t the only one cringing at Edward’s statement as he looked up at Hohenheim.

“Oh,” Edward said, honestly embarrassed, “I’m sorry. I’d forgotten.”

Wrath didn’t like the idea of another Edward with metal parts, particularly since this world didn’t have alchemy to provide functioning ones like the automail Ed wore. It was hard enough for Wrath to accept that he was still in possession of Ed’s two limbs, despite the new body. He didn’t like thinking of this world’s Edward sacrificing two more for the sake of science or knowledge.

“Ulysses… Wrath?” Edward asked, trying to get Wrath's attention as he folded up the letter. “It’s only a saying. Believe me, if anyone’s that driven in science and rocketry, it’s Alfons,” he said, waving the paper a bit, “not me. I believe I am just not serious enough.” Edward looked down at the paper with an expression that practically contradicted those words. “Sometimes I wonder if Alfons really takes proper care of himself.” With a smile that almost instantly reversed his features to their usual, bright expression, he said, “After you’re through with that, why don’t we give sparring another go? Now that I know I can use my legs…”

********

Amestris

“Shit!” Ed said, after the fifth failed attempt at turning the strip of fabric around his neck into a bowtie.

“Ed, what if the kids hear you?” Roy chided, putting on the stern face Ed saw him use on the two young toddlers.

“Don’t use that look on me. Just help me with this damned thing.” Roy walked over to Ed, carefully making sure his own neatly done tie was perfectly straight.

“You’re hopeless.” Roy said, sighing. “Eighteen and still hopeless.”

Ed held up his right hand and wiggled his fingers. “Excuse me, but I don’t exactly have great dexterity, you know. Not to mention that the material kept snagging in my joints.”

“Ed,” Roy said, eyes focused on the task of tying the frayed fabric—Ed failed to mention he’d also torn it a bit. “Do you ever regret not having a bigger wedding?”

“Do I look like a girl?” Ed rolled his large amber eyes. “We had a ceremony at the courthouse with friends, not to mention the nearly a thousand supporters who were standing just outside. Our wedding was fine. I’d just never expected my children to be guests when I got married.”

“I didn’t exactly want it, either, though I’d always considered it a possibility,” Roy said, looping the black fabric through before pulling it tight. “There.”

“Good to see you’re good for something.”

“I think I’m going to slick my hair back,” Roy said, looking in the mirror.

“I hate when you do that.” Ed ran a brush through his own long hair, pulling it back into a neat ponytail. “It gets my hands covered in that greasy gunk, clogs the hinges in my hand. You’re not doing it.” Roy still reached for the can of pomade, actually opening it when Ed yelled at him. “Don’t you dare!”

“It’s flat on the one side, Ed.”

“And it wouldn’t be if you just take that thing off once in a while.” Ed shoved Roy onto the chaise that sat in front of their bed, then sat on his lap, straddling the older man’s thighs. He grabbed hold of Roy’s eyepatch, watching as the man’s hands reached up to stop him. “Fight me and I snap this back on your face.”

Roy put his hands down. After more than a year of marriage to Ed, it was obvious this was no empty threat. As gently as he could, Ed removed the black thing that covered half of his husband’s beautiful face, revealing the scar Roy was still sensitive of. Ed looked at the glass eye; the teen had made it using his memory of what it replaced, though it never saw daylight, despite Ed’s effort to make it perfect. Tenderly, Ed kissed the tendrils of the scar as it spread out like fingers from the false left eye.

“I’ve seen worse than this, Roy. You don’t have to hide it from me.” Ed grabbed the hairbrush and ran it through the thick black hair, keeping to himself that he thought he might have seen the man’s first gray hair, that or an incredibly light one, which under normal circumstances would have led to hours of teasing at the older man’s expense. However Roy was self-conscious enough at the moment and didn’t need this to add to it. Ed ran his hands through the hair, then moving his left hand to caress over the cheek so often covered by the stiff black fabric that it bore tan lines and indentations that might never really go away. He then carefully replaced the large patch.

Again, he ran his hands through the jet-black hair, feeling Roy just hold him for a minute, nothing said, just a simple embrace, which Ed gladly returned.

********

London

Wrath walked through the marketplace, trying desperately to be good as he passed stores and vendors with foods that all seemed so delicious that he thought he might spend all of his weekly stipend from Hohenheim in an hour. He settled on a handful of inexpensive hard candy and made his way to Edward’s work. The teen, who was apprenticing a chemist working on more efficient fuel products, often kept strange hours, but had no complaints on his employment. Edward enjoyed his work, even if it wasn’t as secretive or dangerous as his cousin’s. Through his older friend and Hohenheim, Wrath was gaining interest in science himself, though he had to admit that, now that he could make sense of them, he found a good book to be just as interesting.

Speaking of which, there was a vendor with several used books on a large cart. Even if Wrath did spend his weekly stipend today, Hohenheim never begrudged him books. He began flipping through several, deciding to give one called Oliver Twist a try as well as something called Frankenstein, under the assurance of the vendor that these were both excellent books. He paid the old man and was quite proud he had some money left to spare.

“I don’t think those have pictures, Ulysses.”

Wrath turned around to face three of his tormentors from the orphanage, the three he dreaded seeing the most.

“The old lady wasn’t happy you left.”

“I don’t give a damn about the old lady,” Wrath said, practically hissing. He tried to get away, but in the crowd, it was incredibly difficult and he found himself nearing a wall, nearly cornering himself. “I have an uncle now. He definitely will not like if you do this.”

“And what exactly are you talking about, Ulysses? What do you think we have in mind?”

Wrath did the only thing he could, running toward chemist’s home lab, praying Edward would see him or he’d be allowed inside, even though he normally wasn’t. It was a struggle to get away from the boys, a battle to get through the crowd and at the end of it all, he questioned if it was worth it. He now found himself alone on a secluded street, looking up at a stone building, not knowing if anyone was looking back.

“Edward!” he yelled out, pounding on the door. “Edward, please, let me in!”

The door opened and Wrath was faced with Edward putting on his coat, lab coat in hand. “Ulysses?”

“Boys… From the orphanage…”

“Ulysses, get back here!” someone shouted. Edward stood in front of the dark-haired boy.

“Goodbye Dr. Barrie,” Edward said, nodding slightly to the balding man inside.

Wrath shut the door behind them, not quite certain what it was that Edward had in mind, but he had no complaints. “I had intended to show you these when we returned home, but I think they will be better served at the moment.” When the boys came around the corner, Edward stood facing them. “What are you doing to my cousin?” the blond asked them, handing behind his back a pack of matches and a tiny paper-wrapped ball with a fuse out of the top. Realizing the instruction, Wrath struck the match and lit the fuse while Edward threw a handful of snapping items into the group of boys, startling them. “Throw it Ulysses.”

Wrath did as ordered, tossing the item at the boys, then feeling the teen grab his hand, pulling him out of the alleyway and into a more crowded block of London.

“What was that thing?” Wrath asked.

“It was a smoke bomb, and a rather nasty-smelling one.”

“Wait, is that what made you stink for a week?”

“That would be it. It absorbs itself into the skin. I will do my best to round you up a few.”

Walking through the crowd of people, Edward released his hold on Wrath’s hand, both of them laughing at the unfortunate fate of those boys.

********

Amestris

Roy sat back on the wooden chair that faced away from the white linen-covered table with a thud, Nicholas in his arms, tie long since undone, as was the top button, the only signs on the older man that they’d been at the reception for hours. Ed, on the other hand, had his black coat on the chair, tie on the table, sleeves rolled up and shirt unbuttoned at the top two buttons.

“The next time he takes off, you’re going after him.”

“I don’t think so,” Ed said.

“You’re only eighteen, Ed, and I’m…”

“Stop using your age as an excuse. I’m not the one who fed him two pieces of chocolate cake with extra icing, so you can just go ahead and chase after him.”

Nicholas, with his big, demanding black eyes looked up anxiously at his papa, who held onto the hyped-up toddler’s hands, so the boy could jump up and down. “All of this running, bending over, and picking him up could hurt my back, and that is your fault.”

Ed rubbed Aideen’s back as she sat on his lap, playing with a little stuffed bear, lacy dress puffed out behind her, as she was chattering away to the animal. “As much as I would absolutely love to take claim on wrenching your back that day because I am just that good, Mr. Mustang, I would take the guess that your back has just been under a lot of stress to go out on you like that.”

“Well, I’d hauled you around for a few months.” Ed only rolled his eyes, as though prepared to respond that he never asked for any of it.

“Papa,” Nicholas whined. Roy held the strong little hands up, so the boy could swing and bounce around between the man’s legs. The blond boy laughed as he bounced, so strange considering how many of Riza’s features the little boy held. It was odd to see what was essentially her face look so energetic and excited.

“Al seems to have gotten over his nervousness,” Roy said, watching as the younger Elric spun around on the dance floor with Winry, his head bent down on top of hers. It had been comical to watch the two brothers dancing together the last few weeks, as Al had been taking dance lessons and managed to recruit Ed into helping him practice what he’d learned (improving Ed’s ability in the process). Roy had to admit it was nice to watch the two childhood friends realize their feelings for one another. Roy silently wondered how long it would be before there was another wedding for his brother-in-law.

“They’ve been on the dance floor all night,” Ed said, smiling, his left hand pushing Aideen’s black hair out of her eyes.

“And I don’t think they’ve noticed,” Roy said, watching as the bride and groom of the wedding danced next to Al and Winry. Maes would have been happy to know that Gracia could find love after him. Roy had watched Gracia Hughes, no Havoc now, slowly look like she was wearing down under the weight of life without the man she loved. It was so nice to finally see her look so happy. And Jean, he had an expression on his face of contentment and affection for both mother and daughter. At their side, the six-year-old held the two adults’ hands, looking nearly as pleased as they did.

Roy dared anyone who had held doubts about these two to question their relationship watching them dance together now. It didn’t matter that Gracia was four years older, or that some felt she still needed to be in mourning. Nearly two and a half years since Maes’s death, the pain still stung, but if she had found happiness, who the hell were they to say anything about it?

“Bear, Daddy, play.” Ed watched as the little girl, whose language skills, if not her physical ones, far surpassed her brother, held the bear like he was dancing. It amused Roy that she was already beyond the need for dada, and had moved on to call Ed daddy.

“You want to dance with your bear?”

“Dance,” she said. “Want dance. Dance Daddy.”

Ed stood up, holding his daughter in his arms. No sooner had he moved, and the little boy let go of Roy’s hands and darted out as fast as he could onto the dance floor. The older man remembered when he and Ed had been excited with their son’s first steps, but it seemed ever since he first took them, they’d been trying to play an endless game of catch the toddler. Roy ran up behind the boy, grabbing him from behind and lifted him up.

“Shit!” the tiny boy said.

“Nicholas!” Roy said, turning the boy to face him. “Where did you learn that word?” As if Roy didn’t know.

“Dada!”

Looking across the room, Roy saw Ed cringe. He walked over to the teen, wrapping an arm around him. “We’re going to have to work on your language around the children,” Roy said.

“Yeah, I know,” Ed said, wrapping his own arm around Roy, slowly swaying the older man into the rhythm of the music.

Dancing together, the couple gently rocked their children to sleep, becoming nearly as unaware of the amount of time on the dance floor as the newlyweds and the young lovers.

*********

London

“So, Ulysses,” Edward said, sitting next to the boy on his bed, “want to tell me how someone who manages to knock me to the ground every time we fight looks so terrified by those three boys?”

“They…” Wrath looked down at his feet. “They were the worst bullies at the orphanage. They didn’t just try to fight me.” He inhaled slowly. “They threatened to do… other things.”

Edward put his arm around Wrath’s shoulders. “Bloody hell, I should have blown the little bastards up.”

Wrath looked up at the young man in surprise. He was accustomed to hearing Ed swear, but not Edward. “I just appreciate they’re going to smell like rotten fish for a week.”

For some time, they sat in silence, then finally, Edward broke the quiet, looking down at Wrath, saying, “Hohenheim doesn’t talk much about the other version of me. What was he like?”

The young teen wondered how long it would take for the blond to ask about Ed. For a long time, he didn’t, Wrath suspected, because of how strange the idea of another version of himself must have seemed, but now, he was asking, actually wanting to know about the Ed Wrath had known.

“He was stubborn, swore a lot, shorter than you, a genius in alchemy,” Wrath wasn’t sure how long this list would go on.

“What made you trust him as much as you did?”

“He was honest and stuck true to his word. He was good to his brother.”

“What about babies? Both of you asked about babies, and Hohenheim is especially quiet about that.”

“I don’t think he wants to jinx it,” Wrath said. “There were two babies on the way when we both came here.” With caution on how much detail he went into, Wrath did his best to explain what he could to Edward, as not to confuse him. Edward took it all in, obviously at a loss for how to react to the information passed along by the young teen.

“He was engaged to another man?” Edward said, looking baffled, shocked, as though grasping that pregnancy was easier to accept as a mystery of Wrath’s world of alchemy more so than the idea of two men together, such a taboo in this world.

“Roy Mustang, yes.”

“But it’s a sin.”

“Not there. Do you not have homosexuals in this world who just are nice, not like those boys?”

Edward paused, seeming to think that question over very carefully. “They are here, but they are never allowed to admit it.”

“That is wrong. It doesn’t seem fair”

Wrath looked up to find an answer in the teen’s face, but found none. Edward merely sat once again in silence.