Worlds Collide

A/N: SadlerGirl, glad you're still reading. I've tried really hard to get the relationships the characters have right. Kuragari, definitely not good. Next chapter you should know how bad a combo it is.

Also, sorry about the last post. I posted and before I could check for errors had to get away from the computer.

Chapter 33

Exhausted Progress

One month later

Frank was on the phone with Kain, hating to admit just how much he missed him. They’d done most of their communication over the phone for going on two months, save for three days his lover had been in Central. Part of the former spy cursed whatever had turned him from the hardened military man into a damned woman, pining for a boyfriend and a would-be family.

It was just one more thing for Frank to hate that woman Dante for, as it was necessary to stay in Central to work with the fuhrer trying to find her while Kain was in the East. And poor Falman, wanting nothing more than to spend time with daughter as her pregnancy progressed, but couldn’t risk her visiting him in Central or going away to visit her while he was needed where he was.

Then there was the threat she posed to the twins, to Aideen specifically, and what it seemed to be doing to her entire family to know she was in constant danger. Both her parents were wearing themselves ragged, as were her aunts and uncle, even Falman despite already having enough in the way of troubles with his daughter. Frank didn’t like seeing his friends this way, but there was also the fact that he counted the raven-haired pre-teen as family and was as concerned for her safety as the rest.

“How are you holding up?” Kain asked from miles away.

“Okay. Just surprised by everything. From what Ed’s told me, Dante made Wrath suffer a lot as a kid. He told me a lot about his past, but never mentioned her.”

“And how long were we together before you talked about what had been done to you in that so-called ‘Great War?’”

“Point taken. I didn’t exactly share that with him, either.”

There was a pause, then a sigh at the other end. “I fell incredibly stupid saying this, but I miss you.”

“Same here. Makes me want to kill Dante even more.” As if he didn’t already, knowing that the witch had locked Wrath away inside of the Gate as “punishment for disobedience” or let that serpent go at him—regardless of being in a human form at the time. “I’ll see you the next time you get to Central to file your report.”

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Frank said, still feeling odd saying it over the phone. It was one thing to say it to the man in person or in the middle of sex, as he did frequently.

God. Sex.

He hadn’t had that in weeks either. The bitch really needed to die.

********

Standing in the lab, feeling Roy’s disapproving eye falling on him, Ed looked up, perturbed. “What?”

“You’re working yourself to death again.”

“This is for good reason, Roy.” Ed tried to look at him determinedly, but all he managed was something somewhere above exhausted. “I take enough time out of here to spend with the twins and that’s all I need.”

“What about sleep?”

“You look awfully tired, Brother,” Al chimed in.

“I’m fine,” Ed lied. Well, he seriously felt he was lying, as he barely got more than three hours of sleep at night since that thing crashed, and he had an ulcer the size of his fist currently making his gut feel as though he had swallowed a few hundred needles. “Listen, Roy, if you and your men can’t find her and none of the research I’ve done has found her, we have to protect the twins. Al and I are very close to finding a symbol that will keep Dante out. The one we’ve found Al can still break through, but it takes him several tries.”

Ed hadn’t liked experimenting using Al’s soul, but his younger brother had insisted, as he was the only person aside from Dante who had the capability of detaching his soul from his body. No matter how loudly Ed had protested that it was a risk for Al to separate his soul from his body, knowing they were trying to deflect it from the item he was trying to attach it to, for the sake of his family, Al hadn’t had a second thought.

As Ed continued to analyze what modifications could be made to the symbol, he felt the piercing dark eye, hell even the one behind the patch, focused squarely on him, looking on in criticism of his actions. Ed was doing his best to keep his anger in check, knowing Roy was trying to have his best interests at heart as well as his children, but there was a part of him that just wanted to yell at the older man, to demand why he felt he had time to come into the lab, being of absolutely no use, rather than going out and finding the woman who posed such a threat to their children.

But Ed knew that even as he stared at the design for the hundredth time that day, Roy had troops searching for her, using a rather vague description, as she could be anyone. Roy didn’t physically need to be out there doing it, unlike Ed with his current work, since without doubt that no one else would manage to come up with this array.

“Well, if you’re going to stay here, at least make yourself useful,” he told his husband. “Clean up the suit of armor, remove every trace of the last symbol. Al’s still recovering from the last try.”

“Yes, sir,” Roy said. He grabbed a rag and dipped it in the bowl of cleaner, moving to scrub off the symbol. “Have either of you heard from Wrath?”

Underground, Wrath and the Tringhams were working to block the entrance to the Gate and to see if it could be done simply on the Amestris side.

“He’s having trouble dealing with Russell,” Al answered before taking a drink of water. Though detaching his soul didn’t take as much energy out of him as it used to, it was obvious that it drained him a bit. “I like both Russell and Fletcher, but I sometimes wonder why he has to pick on Wrath so much.”

“Because Russell never got out of the grade school mindset.” Ed erased and redrew a section of the array. “He doesn’t know how to deal with the fact that he likes Wrath.”

“Likes him?” Al asked.

“Yeah,” Ed said, flipping through some documents written by his father, no less. “Apparently Russell’s had something for him since they met, not that I blame him. Wrath is definitely easy on the eyes, especially without the sharp teeth and freaky eyes.”

“Mm-hmm,” he heard Roy chime in.

“Eww,” Al said. Ed snickered at his brother as he found what he’d been looking for and began incorporating the design into the one on the lab table. “I’ll take your words for it. But I thought Russell liked women.”

“All clean,” Roy said, putting the rag back in the bowl of cleaner. “It took a while for Ed to point out to me that Russell and I have at least one thing in common: we aren’t particular when it comes to the type of person we date.”

“Oh,” Al said.

“I think I have it,” Ed said. “Al, you up to giving it a try?” Before the words even left his mouth or his brother started to stand up to prepare, he saw how exhausted Al looked. Maybe it was time to quit this end of their research, as it seemed no one had his stamina. “Never mind Al. I’ll keep a close guard on the kids tonight and we’ll give it a shot tomorrow? Okay?”

Al nodded, looking overwhelmingly grateful. He bent down—damn, Ed hated that his brother had to do it—to hug him. “Get some rest.”

“I will,” Ed said.

“Liar,” Roy and Al said in unison.

“Force him to sleep if you have to,” Al said to Roy before leaving the lab.

Ed found himself with a long arm around his shoulders. “You are getting better at small-talk when you don’t want Al to think you’re wearing yourself too thin. But you are coming in with me. The twins will be back from Raine’s, and they have hardly seen you this week.”

“I’m doing this for them.”

“I know, Ed.” Roy kissed Ed on his forehead. “But the more you spend time in here, the more worried the twins become. They’ve suddenly had guards put on detail to protect them, you’re either out here or away on missions, neither of us can walk through a crowd of people without trying to figure out if they are Dante, and I’m spending longer hours at the office.” Ed found Roy’s hand slipping from his shoulder, moving down to grab his hand. “Ed, in trying to protect our children, we’re alienating them.”

Ed looked up at Roy, hating that the words he’d just heard were true.

********

Wrath was proudly placing the last of the alchemic blocks in the underground city. Admittedly, they were not as strong as he’d have liked, but it was a start, and hopefully enough to counteract the alchemy on Earth for a while. He knelt next to the cylindrical metal object with the array engraved on it, activating it to create a protective barrier throughout the city. With a roll of his shoulders, he stretched out his tense back, shocked to suddenly find a set of hands at those shoulders.

“Russell,” he said as he looked back at the blond, who surprisingly was rubbing the knots out of his muscles. “What are you doing?”

“You looked tense.” Wrath started to shrug him off. “It’s just a favor, now that we’ve got the biggest part of our work done. Maybe we can go back to doing research, and you can try to teach Nicholas and Fletcher can Aideen.”

Wrath turned around, eying Russell warily as he stood, now towering over the blond. He said nothing as they walked toward the manor where they spent their nights doing their work. He had tried not to notice that Russell’s behavior had changed slightly over the last few weeks, as they’d worked together. Actually, he’d almost been pleasant. It was disturbing.

“We’re not done yet,” Wrath said, noticing as the blond walked at his side. "We have to work in Central putting these up and then work within a widening radius. We are far from done, Russell.”

The blond made some noise before following behind him. He didn’t entirely understand why suddenly there had been this change in the elder brother, but he preferred the arguing. That he understood and didn’t get confused by. When Russell was like this, it just baffled him, making him actually think the blond wanted something else with him, despite the fact that he obviously preferred women, if his date was anything to go by.

“Well, at least if we’re working up in Central, we’ll be able to get some decent food aside from when Mrs. Havoc drops it off to us.” Russell gave a pleased groan. “I think pasta for me. What about you? Is there something you’re missing?”

“I don’t know. Edward and I used to get this chocolate cake. It was a favorite of his. It would sound pretty good right now.”

“Do you have a favorite? Something that maybe isn’t Edward’s?” That cold tone came into Russell’s voice again.

“I don’t know… I spent a lot of time around him.”

“And you’ve been here for over a year. I just liked to know one thing you like that wasn’t Edward’s.”

Was that jealousy in Russell’s voice? Wrath shook his head at his thoughts, apparently making Russell think it was at him. “I’m going to go ahead and let Fletcher know, if you want to finish cleaning p some of our supplies.” With that, Russell jogged ahead, leaving a confused Wrath behind.

“Damn him,” Wrath muttered.

********

Roy sat on the sofa, practically holding Ed in place with his left arm as he sat watching the twins play a game of alchemy of their own making. His husband remained a mass of twitching, tense nerves. He wanted back out to his lab, but despite knowing Ed was an adult, there was still a part of Roy that told him he couldn't allow the smaller alchemist wear himself to exhaustion. He’d been doing this since he’d first met Ed.

Then he looked at his children and it struck him. He looked over at the man at his side. “Hit me now.”

Ed turned his head to him, eyebrow raised. “Not that I need a reason or your permission, but want to tell me why?”

“You were their age,” Roy said. At that Ed winced, Roy realizing what Ed thought he meant, the human transmutation, so he immediately continued his thought. “When I offered you to join the military. You were just a few months older than them when I told you that you could become a state alchemist, to join the military and become an adult who had to fight wars and battles where it was likely you could kill or be killed.” He watched as Nicholas transformed a piece of cobalt-colored glass into a swan, and as Aideen made a modification to it so that it spread its wings. It was a game of one-upmanship, Aideen usually the winner, but a gracious one at least.

He saw Ed’s eyes looking down at the twins and felt the hard, cool sensation of the automail hand through his pants at his knee. “Best thing you could have done for me.”

Roy gently kissed Ed’s cheek, feeling the muscles in the younger man’s back loosening just a bit. He reached his right hand over and began caressing over Ed’s brows, over his cheek and neck. It wouldn’t be long before he was asleep, and Roy was going to do his best to get him there.

If Ed really was as close as they both felt he was to finding something to protect Aideen—and consequently Nicholas—maybe he wouldn’t have to coax his husband into sleep any more. The array would be put into necklaces of some kind, activated, and used to protect the twins. It was all that could be done until Dante could be found, a task that both parents had taken upon themselves to resolve amidst a dozen other things.

********

When the glass sculpture became a realistic-looking blue dragon, Nicholas conceded defeat to Aideen. He continued to play these games against her, because even though she was better than him by quite a bit, his skills improved being faced with hers.

Aideen looked ready to clap her hands and destroy the dragon back into a blue glass paperweight.

“No,” Nicholas said, stopping her. “I’d like to put it in my room like this. It’s really cool.”

She smiled at him. “Careful with it, though, when you take it up there. The glass is really thin, so it could break easily.”

“I will be.” He looked up and saw that their fathers were both sound asleep, curled against one another on the sofa. “Aideen,” he whispered, “should we wake them up?”

“I don’t think so. I’ll just get them a blanket and we can get to bed.” Nicholas nodded and began shutting down the house as he watched Aideen cover the two sleeping men with a blanket, kissing them both on the foreheads as she did. She turned and picked up the dragon gently, stepping out of the room before Nicholas shut off the light, going ahead of her upstairs to make room for the blue lizard she’d created.

As he went to the bedroom, Nicholas hoped that his parents got some decent sleep for once. Since the crash of the small rocket, it didn’t seem that either of them had managed to relax for more than an hour. Though he and his sister had both been given a bit of a lesson on who Dante was and why they were both so worried, Nicholas knew there was more to it than they were being told, but it was Aideen who was doing the research into what happened, occasionally using the pull of their parents to get into the more, if not the most, restricted sections of the libraries. All he knew was that he wanted his parents to think they were safe, not only for his sake but their’s.

********

Russell was sitting with Fletcher, discussing how it would be possible to do Aideen’s lessons while they were doing work in Central, as his younger brother seemed obviously anxious to return to plant alchemy. It was true that he missed it, but nowhere near as much as Fletcher.

He noticed as Wrath walked into the room, looking intently at Russell, almost to the point that it made the blond nervous. “Apple Strudel,” he answered before walking into the next room.

"What was that about?" Fletcher asked.

Russell shrugged, though he was smiling to himself, now knowing something about the man who'd turned him from a usually disagreeable adult into an immature child who didn't know how to deal with a crush. And this something for once had nothing to do with Edward.