Worlds Collide

A/N: SadlerGirl, I don't take offense that you think the scenes are cute. It's better than laughable, which is still what I expect when I write them. Major Mustang of Earth did need Frank, and he didn't know it until now. I liked Fletcher in the anime, but honestly, Russell got on my nerves. Thank you. Amethyst-eyed Koneko, I figured if I wrote another seme!Ed chapter, I wanted it to start off with a funnier premise than the last one. I figure the salve was something that maybe Frank wasn't "using as directed." Honestly, I have no idea why he's able to transform still. I just kind of liked to have him do it (bad reasoning, I know). But I have some of Wrath's theories in this chapter. I'm not saying who's going to close the Gate, but I'm still debating on how much interaction the alchemists in Earth are going to have with Amestris. And while normal is in perspective, it's just better for the guys to consider abnormal normal for them. Kuragari, thank you.

I'm not even going to pretend this wasn't a depressing chapter to write. Two deaths. One that really won't get mourned until next chapter. And Dante's being forced into action. Oh, and major time jump compared to previous chapters. Be warned

Chapter 31

Phone Calls and Letters

Seven months later

Aideen and Nicholas were both crying, hell they all were as they dug the tiny grave at the rear of the yard. The cat had been the family’s, but Carlida had been Ed’s more than anyone’s, save for Black Hayate, who hadn’t moved from the floor of the study where Carlida had just suddenly died the night before.

She was old, though not ancient, only a few months older than the twins, but eleven for a cat is a pretty good, long life, Ed supposed, but damn it, this still sucked. He’d liked this cat; she’d had character. She’d scratched Frank Archer (the asshole one) after he’d kissed Roy and threatened her. A cat that good deserved immortality, not a tiny little casket of Ed and Aideen’s making—she’d refused to cry until it was done—not a hole in the ground that Nicholas and Roy had dug, and definitely not to die. But much as he regretted that calico with a purr like a large motor was gone, he’d long since learned his lesson, and had once again reiterated the taboos of resurrection alchemy to the twins, afraid they might have inherited far too many of his genes.

Silently, Ed placed a hand to the small of Aideen’s back, using it to turn her away from the mound of dirt, Roy doing the same to Nicholas. Much to Ed’s surprise, Aideen’s tears grew as she was pulled away from the cat’s little grave, and she turned and threw her arms around Ed, sobbing loudly.

Death was a relatively new concept for the twins, and he soon found that Nicholas was doing the same, one arm around Aideen, his face buried on Ed’s other shoulder.

Of course, there was also the realization that, as Al and Winry were once again spending a week with Auntie Pinako, it was likely this concept would be revisited soon, and that thought, even more than the cat he’d used as a pillow on multiple occasions, made him feel cold, even as Roy hugged the children and kissed Ed’s forehead.

********

Wrath sat next to Fletcher, inside of the home where the three men had taken up residence below Central, eating a meal sent down by Gracia Havoc. Really, if Wrath had been straight, he might have had to fight her husband for her because she was a Godsend. She always seemed to be sending treats and food down to them to make sure they ate properly, being three bachelors more or less “roughing it.”

Sitting across the table from Russell, he couldn’t help but stare at the older man that he still knew so little about, despite the fact that the older brother insisted on asking questions of him all the time.

“Russell,” Fletcher said, “I’m going to slip up to the surface tonight, see how Aideen is doing and make the deal to start teaching her plant alchemy.”

“Sounds good. Poor kids lost their pet yesterday.”

Aideen had shown an interest in plant alchemy the last time Fletcher had visited. She’d already been learning medical alchemy, which was based on similar concepts, if through slightly different means. Even with Ed’s experience, he couldn’t properly perform all of the transmutations Fletcher could. It finally gave Wrath something in common with the young man near his age, as both had found a niche in alchemy where Ed couldn’t manage to overshadow them. Though as Aideen was pursuing Fletcher for lessons, Nicholas was doing the same for Wrath, trying to find out how the former homunculus managed to incorporate non-biological elements into his system without causing permanent damage, and still be able to separate those elements from his body.

Wrath honestly had no idea. There was the possibility that, along with Ed’s limbs that allowed him the ability to perform alchemy, he had carried through the stones that had completed his transformation into a homunculus. It was also possible that because his body had always been capable of it, that maybe it knew how to perform this alchemy on instinct.

Regardless, Wrath considered that he would be a poor teacher at best.

“Well, Wrath, I guess you’ll have to figure out how to entertain yourself,” Russell said, picking up a chicken wing.

“Do you have plans?” Fletcher asked, poking at his fruit salad with his fork.

“Do you think I’d just let you go without a complaint if I didn’t.”

This was true; Russell was overly obsessed with the research they were doing in the city, and it was highly unlikely that he would just willingly give up.

“I guess we’ll have to let the guards know that we’re not going to be here,” Wrath said, honestly a bit curious where the older blond was headed. Russell had next to no life, so the former homunculus really wanted to know exactly what could deter him from research, even for just a night. “I think I’m done here,” he said, rising from the table, grabbing a wax paper bag of beef jerky, a gift from Jean Havoc, who knew he liked the stuff, especially surprising since it was the brigadier general who made it. Okay, maybe he wouldn’t fight the guy for Gracia.

Wrath made his way to the epicenter of alchemic activity, heavily alarmed and warded thanks to Ed and Al, and greeted the soldiers with the bag held out in front of him. “Take some while I’m offering it,” he said with a smile. He’d noticed those had been coming much more easily now.

“Is this a bribe?” the captain in charge asked.

“You could say that. The brothers and I are heading up to the surface. It’s been a while, and I could really use a tan.”

The guys all laughed at him. It was known among the group of soldiers stationed in the city that Wrath had gotten horribly sunburned from his last extended stay in Central, everywhere except on his right arm and left leg, which tanned beautifully. And the normally distant Russell couldn’t stop touching, poking and slapping Wrath, just to watch him squirm. Sometimes, the black-haired man swore Russell was seven rather than twenty-seven.

“You have the communication devices if there should be any changes here.”

The men nodded to him, saluting him as a major now in the military—only in title, as always, the title meant captain as a state alchemist, but it still meant he outranked them.

*********

Roy was grateful that his sister and Falman were taking the kids out that night. It was a good distraction for them, and necessary for Raine, as Falman’s daughter, who was a year younger than Al and absolutely despised the elder Mustang, was going along. Standing in the kitchen, looking to the top of the refrigerator for just a moment, remembering how often he’d shooed the cat down from that very spot, he opened the door to get the vegetables he’d cut up earlier.

The phone rang, and the voice of his husband yelled out, “I’ll get it!”

Roy said nothing, but mixed the carrots, onions, squash and broccoli into the stir-fry he’d made, slowly simmering the stuff over the stove before putting it onto two plates.

“Ed, supper’s ready.” He walked into the study, finding Black Hayate and Ed on the floor, the dog looking depressed and Ed sobbing painfully as his arm wrapped around the dog’s thick neck. Ed had been sad since Carlida had died, but Roy knew better. He knew this was more than that. “Ed?”

“Auntie Pinako… she… Al called… she’s…” The blond buried his head in the dog’s fur, the large animal nuzzling against him.

Immediately, Roy knelt beside his husband, feeling sad at the loss, guilty once again that much of the woman’s suffering in her life had been his fault in one way or another—not only the death of her son and daughter-in-law, but Ed’s involvement in the military, which caused her countless hours of worry. But Roy knew that his feelings at the moment were nothing compared to Ed’s. That woman had been a surrogate grandmother for him; she had cared for him when he’d had no one else to really do it. And stupid as it sounded, Roy’s greatest anguish at the moment was not at the loss of the stubborn and independent woman, but at seeing how much losing her was hurting the person he loved.

“I didn’t call her last week like I said I would. I promised her I’d call her to really talk to her, but I didn’t.”

“Ed, the alarms underground went off, you spent all week working to make sure the entire world is safe, and you did call her.”

“But I kept it so short.”

“And what would the two of you chatted about? Even while she was sick, Al and Winry were yelling at her to stop trying to do automail repairs. You and Pinako were doers, not talkers.” Roy lovingly ran a hand over Ed’s bound hair. “She knew that, Ed.”

Roy ignored the food getting cold in the kitchen as he laid down beside Ed, wrapping his arm around the smaller frame as it shook beneath his grasp.

“So, do we let Raine know to bring the twins home so we can tell them?”

“No,” Ed answered, pushing himself closer to Roy and pulling Black Hayate tighter. “Let them have their night out. We can tell them when Raine brings them back.”

Roy nodded against Ed’s head, realizing that this was being done as much for Ed as the twins. He needed time to come to terms with this before having to put on a brave face for their children. Roy had done it so many times with his own troops. He had done it with Ed concerning Maes’s death as well, not wanting to face the blond immediately, knowing how much it would hurt him. And with Riza, they had been there for one another, just as they were now, just as they’d always be.

********

“Wrath! Fletcher!” Aideen yelled as she ran over to the two young men, leaving her aunt and brother behind.
She hugged Wrath immediately, considering him essentially family, then grabbed hold of Fletcher’s hand, looking up at him with eyes that seemed to have just finished crying, which maybe they had. “Did you make up your mind yet?” she asked, practically bouncing on the sidewalk, resembling her brother so much in the action that Fletcher would have sworn they’d been switched.

“I did.”

“And?” she said, attempting puppy-dog eyes, and with the lingering tears still in them from the recent death of the pet she’d been attached to, Fletcher had to admit they were affective, so much so, he’d have agreed anyway.

“And, I’ll do it. I’ll teach you.” The girl threw her arms around him, a grin on her face that didn’t seem likely to fade for some time.

As Nicholas drew closer, he smiled, the enthusiasm somewhat drained from his big coal-black eyes. Then, as though to mentally change the topic in his own head, Nicholas said, “Guess what? Uncle Vato going to be a grandfather.”

Fletcher and Wrath looked up at Falman, who looked so happy he might burst, then to Raine, who seemed to have her smile plastered on.

“My daughter just informed me today that she’s going to have a baby. I’m going to have to research everything I can about being a grandfather.”

“You mean there’s actually a subject you don’t have stored in that encyclopedia of a brain of yours?” Raine asked with a wink. She was angry, but obviously not at her boyfriend.

“Actually, yes.” Falman said, putting his arm around his red-headed daughter, hugging her happily, seemingly unaware that the two women were at odds with one another. “And I suppose Raine will have to get used to the idea of being a sort of grandmother.”

At those words, both women winced. Aideen half-giggled. “I don’t think Auntie will like being called grandma.” Fletcher looked down at the twins and up at Falman’s daughter. He’d heard that she liked the two children, but this was obviously one of those situations where she wanted to be with her father alone, preferably, from the look on her face, without her father’s live-in lover.

“Do you think,” Fletcher said, tentatively, “that Ed and Roy would mind if we took over entertaining the kids to let your family have time to enjoy this news together?”

“I don’t think so,” Raine said.

“Can you take her too?” the young woman muttered, barely audible, and completely missed by her excited father.

A set of coal black eyes glanced over in a glare. There was certainly no love lost between these two women, but like it or not, they both loved Falman, and they’d just have to deal with one another.

As they were ready to part company with Falman and his “happy” family, Fletcher noticed that Aideen had been staring off, and at first, he had thought she was once again thinking of the cat, but there was a serious look on her face, mirrored by her brother.

“The Gate,” she said, looking up. “It’s trying to open.”

“Falman,” Wrath said, “take your daughter and get out of here. There’s no telling what could come through. Take the twins.”

“We’re staying,” Nicholas said, Aideen nodding the affirmative beside him. Falman sent his daughter away, telling her to get to safety as he tried to pull at the twins, neither having anything to do with it.

Then it happened, the sky ripping open, only slightly, but the first since Wrath and Frank had crossed, a large metal object hurtling itself toward the ground before the rift closed once again.

Almost immediately, the twins were rushing forward through the streets and alleys to the site of impact, followed behind by the adults, all of whom were trying to beat the two pre-teen alchemists from getting there first.

“It’s a rocket!” Aideen yelled back.

“It could be a bomb,” Fletcher yelled.

The girl clapped her hands and held them near the piece of scorchingly hot metal. “No, it’s not. The components are the used-up rocket fuel, the basic metals that make it up and inside, I sense wood product, paper, I think.”

Falman continued to run, but looking back at Raine and Fletcher, both of whom had lagged behind, his eyebrows were noticeably raised.

From a nearby restaurant, an all-too-familiar voice could be heard.

“What the hell?” Fletcher looked at the door and saw his brother and some brunette twig stepping out. He muttered something to her before kissing her quickly and jogging down the street toward the rest of them.

“Damned otherworld experiments ruined the first date I’ve had in months. What is it, Fletcher, Wrath?”

Nicholas clapped his hands and began cooling the air around the metal.

“You two shouldn’t mess with this. It’s dangerous,” Wrath said, almost ignoring Russell.

“It isn’t,” Aideen argued. “I already told you what it is, what it’s made of and aside from what’s on the paper, what’s inside.”

Wrath knelt down, seeing the alchemic symbol on the side, one that would release the metal. “I want you all to stand back,” he said. “Just in case.”

Aideen rolled her eyes, a near mirror of her brother’s face as they backed away.

Fletcher grabbed Aideen’s shoulders, pulling her away, Raine doing the same to Nicholas as Wrath opened the metal container with very little ceremony and pulled out a stack of papers.

“She told you,” Nicholas said.

But the look of sheer terror on Wrath’s face said something about those papers was as bad as a weapon might have been.

“Wrath?” Russell said, coming near the tall brunette.

“Dante.” Wrath was pale as it was, but even his lips seemed to have lost color. “The top of this is a letter to Dante.”

“That bitch is dead,” Raine said, obviously not caring about the presence of the children.

“This says she’s been helping them on that side,” Russell said, putting a hand on Wrath’s shoulder, only to have it shaken off.

“That’s how they’ve kept changing their alchemy,” Wrath said. “I always questioned how they managed to continually improve upon what we did.”

“It could have been she was in contact with them before she died,” Falman suggested, stubbornly holding onto the denial he shared with his girlfriend.

“And what if it wasn’t?” Wrath asked. “What if she didn’t die?”

“We have to get this to Ed and the fuhrer,” Russell said.

In silence everyone looked at one another until one innocent voice from a growing little blond broke the dead quiet.

“Who’s Dante?”

********

That bitch!

Dante was fuming. Perhaps it was her own fault for signing her name on the documents, but she had insisted that no contact be made with her. What kind of egomaniac was Eckart? Did she feel the need to prove to Dante that yes, she’d managed to break through the gate and once again send something through?

Big damned deal.

Dante had been doing it for ages.

And now, everyone knew, or was at least wary of her being alive. She’d had her obvious death as a cover, but now they would be looking for her, searching everyone for her presence in their body. She couldn’t trip things up, not yet. But she had to make sure that if she was found out, she had an army of her own, something to fight back against the military with.

Something that was going to require a letter to an old friend who had unknowingly done her work for her in the past. One who would jump at the offer of a real-life speaking, moving doll of his daughter.