Worlds Collide

A/N: TrulyWished, thanks. Blissful Ignorance, I figured EarthRiza didn't necessarily have to be dead, and if she hadn't died, she'd be there. The emissary was my own creation figuring that Roy and Ed would be dealing with diplomats and politicians. Kuragari75, this chapter takes place a year and half later and Ed's still not saying. Nomme de Plume,I added to the end of the last chapter, and I was glad that since what I'd had was confusing, you read the addition. Basically, he's a sort of original character, about like Edward is. Amethyst-eyed Koneko, This one involves a fight, so the WAFF is kinda gone here. There will be another lemon coming eventually (what's fighitng without making up?) I also try to leave hints that their lovelife is okay. I also think for Wrath, thee's a part of him that wants Edward to be happy and that's why he pointed Roy out. hikaru_9 glad you like the story and the way I'm doing it. Falman was a little OOC, I know, but I did it partly it worked better for the scene and partly, I figure he looks at Roy as a friend and the opportunity to point out a shocker with Armstrong and Raine. As for my writing, it had been too long since I wrote anything just for fun, I think with the first one.

Chapter 5

Prelude to Collision

One and a half years later

Amestris

Roy looked in the mirror, glancing over the reflection that stared back at him. More specifically, at the gray hairs that popped out at his temples.

“I should have known,” he mumbled to himself. “Father was white by the time he was forty.”

“Shit, Roy,” an all-too-familiar voice said in an equally familiar tone, “you must be the vainest man I have ever met in my entire life.” Roy looked over at Ed. “I finally get you to stop wearing this,” Ed hurled the black eye patch at Roy, smacking him in the chest. “and you start agonizing over gray hairs. About ten total. What the hell are you going to do? Dye it? And what if it starts falling out? Are you going to wear a toupee?”

Ed huffed a bit as he combed back his long hair and started braiding it, always a careful process as the blond strands caught in the hinges of the right hand.

Roy continued to look in the mirror, despite the fact that he could feel the old storm from a few nights before brewing once again, one that started after Roy had rather openly flirted with a young woman when they were out to eat. He hadn’t meant anything by it, really, it was just his nature. Unfortunately, adding insult to injury was the fact that every newspaper picked up the photo of the fuhrer sitting next to Ed with a self-satisfied grin on his face as he talked to the woman.

There had been yelling, apologizing, more yelling. Even make-up sex hadn’t really been that fantastic as Ed hadn’t asked once to be top over the next few nights, or even show any kind of aggression, which when the handsome young man did it, was incredibly sexy. Those nights, Ed had asked Roy what he wanted, performed and looked worried the entire time he was doing it, as though he really thought the older man might leave him for a woman.

And, like it or not, for the last few days, Frank Archer’s words kept ringing in Roy’s ears. ”I mean men like you don’t usually settle down. No matter which you’re with, you’re going to wish it was the other.” It wasn’t true. He’d never thought about being with a woman instead of Ed, but he’d also never thought of how often his husband wondered if he had.

“Who are you trying to impress?” the blond asked.

“I have to appear for the public, Ed.”

“Yeah, and so do I, whether I’m covered in the twin’s latest finger paint project or the mess from my research. And besides, Fuhrer Mustang,” Ed hastily tied his hair. “the reporters spend most of their time talking to me.”

“That’s because you can’t keep your mouth shut. Just last week, you told them we had an active sex life.”

“Okay. Next time they ask, I’ll tell them that you’re a cold fish in bed and don’t get it up.” Ed poked Roy in the chest. “or maybe you’d prefer real details in the papers, like the fuhrer can scream like a girl when he gets really excited.”

“I’m not arguing with you when you get like this.”

“Roy it’s a legitimate question. Why is it that you get so concerned over gray hairs? First of all, you don’t have enough to show up in a newspaper photo. Second of all, the public actually respects a man who looks like he has some experience more than they do someone who looks like a twenty-year-old. Third, I don’t give a damn if you go gray and then bald overnight, so why do you keep doing this?”

Roy positioned the patch on his face, pulling the bands down around his head. “I’m not continuing this conversation Ed. We have a charity event to go to.”

“I wonder what kind of an appearance you would make if I didn’t go with you.”

“We’re both signed up to work this dinner and it’s for an orphanage. Don’t even try to play that bluff with me Ed. You wouldn’t do that, no matter how much of a brat you become when you’re angry.”

Ed’s face went blank for a moment, the explosion Roy was expecting never coming, only a calm, “Wow.”

The twenty-year-old’s lips tightened, eyes and eyebrows moving as though having an inner dialogue with himself, mouth opening and closing slightly with each movement. “Okay.”

He walked out of the door.

“Shit,” Roy said, finishing putting on the patch before following Ed into the hallway.

********

Munich

In the time since arriving in Germany, Edward and Wrath lived with Stephen, despite the former homunculus’s early misgivings on the man. At one point, Edward asked Wrath if possibly he had known Stephen as someone in his world. Wrath decided that had to be it, though much as he analyzed the man’s face, he couldn’t place him. There was an underlying familiarity to him, but all Wrath could figure was this blond-haired, blue-eyed man must have led a very different life, making his features look nearly as different as Edward’s own soft, gentle ones were when compared to his double.

Every night the two men came home from the Thule Society, Wrath pumped them for answers and descriptions, Edward more than willingly talking about the work he was doing, less than willingly talking about his cousin Alfons. They’d been in Munich now over a year, and with each passing day, it seemed the prognosis for Edward’s cousin got worse. The alternate Al hadn’t been to work for the last few days, and Edward was spending more time at Alfons’s apartment, now that Wrath was a little more comfortable with the blond spy.

From what Wrath could make out, Alfons was dying. Despite using Edward’s more efficient and cleaner fuels, it seemed that the damage done by years of studying rockets and inhaling fumes had run its course and was nearly finished killing the nine-teen year old.

Stephen on the other hand, was always reluctant to discuss what he’d seen, and Wrath could only imagine it was horrific for someone who had grown up in this world. The Thule Society was using Noa to read all of their minds, combining the alchemy known by all of the members to use it for their own goals. Because they still did not trust Stephen entirely, possibly because of how new he was or the fact that the weathered-looking man did not strike them as a scientist, he was regularly placed on research duties.

This was how it was every night. Except tonight.

When he came home tonight, Edward at his side, both looked very pale.

“They made another Envy,” Edward said, dumbfounded.

“Another… How?”

“Lots of animals, lizards, snakes…” Stephen closed his eyes. “They made a serpent chimera, and the thing is wrapped around a giant transmutation circle. They tried activating it multiple times, but it isn’t working.” Stephen went to the liquor cabinet. “Then there were the suits of armor.” He pulled out a stash of whiskey that usually had remained nearly untouched. “They moved by themselves. They were…” He shuddered for a moment.

“Attached souls?” Wrath asked.

“How did you know?”

“Al of my world had lost his body in a transmutation and Ed saved him by binding his soul to armor.”

“Your world…” Stephen still had great difficulty accepting that Wrath came from a place that was not Earth.
“My world. And when they take that serpent, wrapping it around the circle, does it look like this?” he asked, drawing the oroborous that had once appeared on his left foot.

“Exactly like that,” Stephen said.

Wrath only shook his head. “Are they trying again tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow night, yes.”

“Then you’re going to need your rest. Go to bed.”

“What?”

“Noa regularly reads your mind to add what you’ve learned to her growing mental library, Stephen,” Edward said. “We’re just lucky she’s got too many minds swirling around in her head to figure out you’re a spy. She never touches me. I think Ulysses is telling you that you need to be out of here while we talk so he isn’t at risk.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “You could have said as much.” He took a sip of the whiskey. “Fine.” He finished off the glass. “I’m going to bed.”

Once they were sure they were alone, Edward sat on the small sofa, Wrath looking over what he’d drawn at the opposite side. “I’m going with you tomorrow. You have to find a way to smuggle me in.”

“I won’t have you risk it,” Edward said. “If they find out just how much you know…” Edward looked lazily over at the fire Wrath had kept burning inside their home. “If they find out… they’ll capture you and at least force Noa to read your mind. At worst, they’ll make you a part of this transmutation.”

“When I first came here, I came here because I didn’t have anything on my world to live for. Ed was nice to me, Al tolerated me, but my mother was dead, I didn’t see how I would ever be human.” Wrath tucked his knees up to his chest. “And I still have things that don’t belong to me.” He put the drawing down and looked at his hands. Their size was far more proportional than it used to be, though the skin tone was still just a bit off. “I can’t let this world end up taking advantage of something so dangerous. I can’t let another me be created, or another Envy or any of the others. I need to see how far they’ve gotten and what can be done to stop them from getting any further. Pretend I’m an apprentice, pack me away in a box with parts. I don’t care.”

“You had nothing to live for in your world?”

“Nothing.”

“And nothing’s changed? You’re willing to sacrifice yourself here?” Edward asked, looking at Wrath in a way that made the teen feel somewhat uncomfortable. Those mixed gold eyes looked hurt, making the teen avert his own for a moment.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Wrath fidgeted in his seat. “I mean, I shouldn’t be here, so if I’m gone, no big deal, you know?”

“No, I don’t.” Edward stood and went to the still-open bottle of whiskey. “You’re my friend, Ulysses. I don’t make them easily. I’m a terrible bookworm, I spend most of my time in a lab, and for some reason, I have a gigantic snake that chases me the minute it lays eyes on me.” He looked at Wrath with an odd smirk. “I am a mess when it comes to making friends.” Edward poured a glass of the stuff and drank it in a single gulp. “Besides, the simple fact is that Alfons is dying, and it isn’t easy for me to watch.” He stopped himself, Wrath, watching the older boy carefully. It was the first time he’d ever admitted aloud to anyone that Alfons really was dying. He set the glass down and rubbed his temples, sighing. “But you are right. You’re the only one of us who has any idea what is going on. You should be there tomorrow.”

“I’ll do my best not to get captured or killed. Okay?”

Edward nodded.

********

Amestris

Ed walked by the children’s room, where Aideen was sitting at her tiny table, playing with the tea set, pouring a cup of the imaginary liquid for an imaginary guest. “Here Lady Mandana. Have some tea.”

The young girl paused, head tilted to the side as though listening to something. “Oh, yes. I like you very much. Do you think my dress is pretty?” again there was a pause. “Oh is he?” She turned her head. “Hi Daddy!” Aideen went and got her hairbrush, knowing from practice why he’d been standing outside of her door.

Ed walked into the room, still green and yellow from the days when it had been the babies’ nursery, though the furniture inside had all changed. Aideen came back with the soft-bristled brush—all that was necessary on her fine hair—and two elastic hair bands with little white bows.

Taking the brush, Ed began gently running it through the massive amount of silkenlike hair. It was fine and rarely tangled, despite the overwhelming amount of it she had.

“Ed,” said a voice from the doorway, “we need to talk.”

Not looking up from his daughter’s hair, Ed answered, “Not now.” The minute those cold words left Ed’s mouth, he regretted it. Around Nicholas, he could have gotten away with them, but not Aideen, not the perceptive little girl in front of him.

Ignoring the hairbrush in her hair, Aideen turned around and looked up at Ed.

“Daddy, are you and Papa fighting again?” Aideen looked up at Roy. “What did you do?” Roy looked down at the dark-haired girl in shock. “You look like Nichlas,” she said, still leaving out the O in her brother’s name, but getting the point across anyway. Roy did look incredibly guilty, a constant expression on their son’s face.
“I called Daddy a name and I’m sorry for it.”

Aideen shook her head, looking incredibly disappointed in her Papa. “You hurt Daddy’s feelings?”

“Yes I think I did.” Ed knew that Roy never considered that despite a tough exterior of an adult of twenty, there was still a bit of the teenager who’d never been with anyone but Roy, never kissed, never touched, never anything but Roy. And that teenager still couldn’t shake the older man’s considerable experience on him. Ed hated it because it made him feel so insecure, knowing that ultimately, Roy was bi, Roy liked both, and Ed could only ever be one, close as he’d come before the babies were born.

“I don’t like when you fight,” Aideen said, the all-seeing molten lava eyes looking between them. Ed’s body rocked a bit at the weight of Roy’s sitting on the tiny twin bed beside him. “Well, you fight a lot, not like this.”

“I don’t like it either, sweetie,” Roy said.

“Aideen, we need to get your hair pulled back,” Ed said, turning his daughter around and parting her hair to braid into pigtails down her back. He worked quickly from years of practice, though he enjoyed watching Roy attempt it from time to time, and seeing Aideen afterwards point out to her Papa that he’d missed a spot here or there of left a bump.

Despite himself, Ed smiled.

The smile faded as he felt the man at his side shift. This bickering was different from their usual banter, different from the exchange or short jokes—Ed was now finished growing and still only up to Roy’s mouth—and jokes on Roy’s age. It was bound to bother Ed that Roy so openly flirted with that woman, with her low-cut shirt and constant touching of the fuhrer’s arm and lapel, yet he knew it was simply Roy. The man could turn on the charm whenever he wanted to; it was a quality that left Ed both infuriated with and endeared to the man. The problem was that when it upset the blond, Roy belittled him, treating him like a child, something the man had never done in all of Ed’s life.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ed could see Roy sitting, shoulders slumped, hands folded between his legs. He felt guilty.

Good.

Ed finished soon enough with Aideen’s hair, then took her little hand in his own and walked out of the room with her at his side.

“When Uncle Al and Aunt Winry get married,” she said, her hand encircling two of Ed’s fingers, “do I get to move into Uncle Al’s room?”

“Yes. Your brother wants to stay in the old room.”

“And, can I make it purple?” Ed cringed a bit. At least it wasn’t pink. He guided the little girl toward the railing and slowly walked down the steps with her, hearing Roy following behind.

“You know it isn’t going to be for a few months now, Aideen,” Ed told her.

“I know.” It didn’t matter, the little girl would probably have Al spending his last month in the house in a purple floral bedroom. It made the older brother want to snicker.

They no sooner went down the stairs when Ed heard Raine bellowing, “Nicholas Maes, Black Hayate is not a horse. Get off him!”

********

Munich

Waking early the next morning, Wrath helped Edward pull in a large crate. When he’d joked about being brought in with parts, he hadn’t actually considered it would happen. They’d sent Stephen out of the apartment already, and Wrath was now faced with the idea of being toted into the Thule Society inside of a large wooden box full of metal objects. It made his easily-injured human body cringe just a bit.

“All right. Climb in,” Edward said, offering Wrath a hand to help him in. With his left hand, Wrath grabbed hold of Edward’s right and stepped inside, then swung his other leg in. “You will need to duck down.” Wrath nodded, crouching down, looking at Edward, who was placing the lid on top.
A few deafening swings of the hammer later, and Wrath was completely sealed inside, e

ternally grateful he wasn’t one to get claustrophobic. He could see between the boards as Edward crouched in front of the box.

“How are you in there?”

“Wishing I still had a body that hadn’t grown,” Wrath joked. “Either that, or my genes didn’t come from Sig Curtis. The man was a mountain.” In the near dark that was only lit by a few stray lines of light, he looked down at the metal parts at his feet. “Are you sure nothing in here is sharp?”

“I am absolutely certain.” Edward groaned good-naturedly. “You talk as though I packed you in there with knives and razor blades. They’re metal tubing and a few parts for the ignition control, Ulysses.” There was a knocking at the door. “You need to be quiet now.”

Wrath rolled his eyes, as though he was going to start trying to carry on a conversation with the men from the society while he was trying to sneak into it.

As he was carted off to the society’s secret gathering area, Wrath learned he had more self-control than he’d ever known, as he refrained from grunting or making any noise as his body was slammed against the boards of the crate and the metal tubes slammed against him. They weren’t sharp, but Wrath was certain he’d have his share of bruises.

Finally, Wrath felt the box stop and heard Edward being confronted by some of the men he worked with. They were explaining that Edward needed to see something immediately. Wrath sat in the crate, hoping that eventually the blond would be able to get him out. Hoping that someone else didn’t discover him. Nervously, he sat and waited.
And waited.

********

Amestris

Standing at the back of the kitchen, glancing through the open door at Roy, black suit on, tray in hand, along side other government officials and public figures serving patrons for charity, Ed was more than grateful to be at the large steel sink washing dishes. Even if he was currently surrounded by journalists.

“So, Mr. Elric, how did you get involved in this?”

Ed didn’t stop working as he answered, turning on that practiced tone and way of speaking he’d learned from three and a half years of dealing with the press. “The fuhrer and I don’t get to participate in every event we’re asked to, but when we can do it, we try. We are making a donation, but of course, we realized that our appearance here working the dinner would bring more attention to getting money for our country’s orphanages.”

“And do you wish you were out front?”

“Not at all,” Ed said. “I do not do well with people.”

“But you talk with us so often.”

“Like I said. I don’t do well with people.” Ed laughed, looking up from the pot he was scouring. “Now before you all scribble down ‘Ed Elric says journalists not people,’ I want you to know I’m kidding.”

“And how have things been since that photo of the fuhrer and that woman?”

“Fine. I’ve known Roy for nearly half of my life, and he sometimes just doesn’t know when he’s being a bit of a flirt. Besides, I’m the one he comes home to every night, and that’s what matters.”

“Could we get a photo of you?”

“I look disgusting, but go ahead. Just make it quick. Judge Palmer’s husband is going to show me up if I spend all night talking to you.”

After a few quick photo ops, Ed returned to work, watching as Raine brought Aideen and Nicholas in to help their Papa serve dessert. They’d both really wanted to help with this tonight, and the orphanage system thought having the two children participate was a good idea. Personally, Ed just waited for someone to end up wearing their cake, as either Nicholas would accidentally trip and send the dessert onto a patron or Aideen would get angry and throw it at them. She had his temper, what could he say?

Excitedly, they took the small plates of cake from their father, carrying them down the tables, pleased that they were helping.

Going back to the dishes, Ed heard as a plate hit the floor and shattered, then heard the sound of his daughter crying. Faster than anyone could get to her, he and Roy were at the little girl’s side, seeing that she had cut her leg on a piece of the plate that one of the adults serving had dropped.

Ed scooped her into his arms, carrying her back to the kitchen to where he’d seen a first aid kit, placing his daughter on the countertop, going to reach for the kit only to find Roy had already opened it and was removing a piece of gauze and antiseptic. Ed looked back at his daughter, prepared to sooth the little girl, but found the tears had stopped and there was a sort of calm on her face.

Roy held out the cotton material, now soaked in a blue substance. “This may sting.”

Aideen held out her hand. “I can do it.” She took the gauze from Roy and placed it to the cut, only wincing as the stuff hit her skin, leaving white bubbly foam behind. Both parents hovered near her, but she stared them down, a silent order that they not touch her. They had grown accustomed to this when she got hurt. Aideen didn’t like contact with other people until the pain had faded.

After the initial sting had diminished and Aideen looked up at her fathers with a sniffle and a pouting face, they moved to her, Ed kissing her forehead, Roy rubbing her back.

“Such a brave little girl,” one of the reporters said.

“So strong,” another said, taking a photo.

“I don’t cry,” came the mocking, raspy little voice of her brother.

“Yes…you…do,” Aideen said between sniffles.

The two fathers cut off an argument of “Yes you do”s and “No I don’t”s each one grabbing onto one of the children, hushing them, and carrying them back to Raine, Aideen insisting she was okay to go back to Auntie’s house. As they left their children with Roy’s older sister, Ed felt Roy grab onto his left hand, the older man’s smooth thumb stroking over the top of Ed’s hand. Ed gently squeezed Roy’s hand in return, then left his husband to continue doing the dishes.

********

Munich

At what point he’d fallen asleep, Wrath didn’t know, but he awoke to the soft sounds of chanting. Damn it, he cursed silently. They were starting the ceremony and Edward hadn’t been able to get him out. Through a tiny crack, Wrath watched from his secluded corner of the room lit only by candles. The would-be alchemists all created a circle, and he thought that in the center of the circle, he could see a young woman standing.

Squirming on the floor, he could also see something large and black, as though it had been held down.

The chanting increased in intensity, Wrath desperately trying to focus in on what they were saying, feeling the increasing alchemic energy in the room, feeling it affect him. But without thinking about the strange feeling in his arms as they rested on top of a metal tube, he watched.

“The powers that be are with us tonight,” a woman said before joining the chanting. There was a look of surprise as the floor began to glow, and a force like a wind began swirling around the room.

The same woman spoke up again, ordering for something to be brought in. “The gate to Shamballa is finally opening!”

More and more they chanted, the floor glowing, the bound creature squirming against restraints.

He could hear in the distance the clanging of metal. He craned to see, struggling to do so without making too much noise. He saw what Stephen had been talking about, and realized just what the shock had been. There were at least thirty of them. Thirty people sacrificed. Thirty souls bonded to armor.

The circle of so-called alchemists parted as the suits of armor were sent through the alchemic rift being created in the floor, to end up who knows where.