Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/3065249.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M, Multi
  Fandom:
      Fullmetal_Alchemist_(Anime_2003), FMA:_Conqueror_of_Shambala
  Relationship:
      Edward_Elric/Roy_Mustang, Alphonse_Elric/Edward_Elric
  Character:
      Edward_Elric, Alphonse_Elric, Roy_Mustang, Original_Character, Riza
      Hawkeye, The_Morrigan_(Celtic_Mythology), Manannán_Mac_Lir
  Additional Tags:
      hormonal_mess, Drama, Angst, possible_triggering_subject_matter,
      Elricest, Dubious_Consent
  Series:
      Part 1 of Another_Time,_Another_Place
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-12-31 Completed: 2015-04-20 Chapters: 9/9 Words: 33114
****** Another Time, Another Place ******
by callasyndra
Summary
     An overdose of hormones and two Elric brothers are never a good idea.
     This thing has a ton of angst in it.
     Spoilers for Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 and Fullmetal Alchemist:
     Conqueror of Shambala
Notes
     This story was never meant to happen. It came about when I was
     plotting out some of Paradox and Ling from bob_fish's Camping Trip of
     Doom and Wrong Turn 'Verse decided to jump into the plotting.
     (Speaking of the wonderful bob_fish - you should all go and read her
     Wrong Turn 'Verse and leave her lots of kudos & compliments.) He just
     happened to casually mention it would be so wonderful to have both Ed
     and Al as his two preferred concubines..... and well. Now we have
     this story that just isn't cooperating because I want to write
     Paradox, but this one is being an attention whore. So. Everyone can
     thank Ling for this.
     Please be aware this work may contain sensitive subject matter.
     PLEASE READ THE TAGS. In order to write a story where Edward and
     Alphonse get involved sexually, it really felt like some of the
     issues they might deal with had to be addressed. It's written for
     adults and addresses issues two young teenage brothers may face if
     they entered an incestuous relationship. If the subject matter is
     making you uncomfortable in any way I'd advise moving onto another
     story.
     I'm taking a slightly different approach to this since it wasn't ever
     supposed to come about in the first place. No idea how long it will
     be between updates because I'm writing longer chapters just to see if
     I can. As it stands I think this will end up being 5 or 6 chapters
     long. (And that's if Ling decides he doesn't want to hear more about
     the Elrics.....I'm really hoping if this plot bunny won't go away it
     will at least be satisfied with smaller pieces.)
See the end of the work for more notes
***** Chapter 1 *****
                               Central, Amestris
                                  June  1919
          Roy Mustang wearily looked around his office.  His team was still
hard at work in the outer office just as they had been two years ago when the
Elric brothers had disappeared for the last time from his life.  After Edward
and Alphonse had left Roy had stayed in Central and resigned his enlisted
position in the Northern outpost so he could resume his duty as Brigadier
General.  It had been one of the hardest decisions of his life, but he could no
longer hide behind Edward’s death.  Edward was very much alive and he wouldn’t
forgive Roy for not living as well.
          In the aftermath of the attack from the portal Roy’s team had come
across a helmet just like the one Alphonse had worn all those many years ago. 
Roy had claimed that helmet and it sat now upon a bookshelf in his office. 
Often he felt his eyes drawn to it and thought of the Elrics and what they
could possibly be doing in that other world. 
          Tonight Roy was by himself in the office and was working late at the
paperwork he’d put off as usual.  Hawkeye had informed him this paperwork
wouldbe completed before he left the office tonight as her fingers twitched
toward her pistol.  Meekly he’d acquiesced to her statement because he knew she
was the real reason his office operated as well as it did.  And so now he was
doggedly trying to finish said paperwork.  He was so focused on the paperwork
it took a moment for him to understand the voice speaking in his office.
          “General?  That is you!  I’ve been trying for so long to find a way
to reach you.  It was much harder from this side because alchemy doesn’t work
over here so the soul-bonding was much more difficult.  Especially since I
can’t direct it as well when I’m dreaming…”
          The voice sounded disturbingly like Alphonse Elric’s and Roy for a
moment wondered if he’d fallen asleep in his office again.  He glanced fuzzily
over at the helmet and saw a white glow peering out from the eyes.  Attention
caught, Roy blinked once before barking out “Alphonse
Elric!  Is your brother with you and well?”
          If an armored head could have smiled this one did.  “Yes Brother is
with me and is as well as can be expected.  Tell me, did you ever close the
portal on your side?”
          Roy frowned before admitting “We weren’t able to.  I’ve got someone
on guard at all times with a radio in case there’s any movement from it, but
that’s the best we could do.  It would have needed both you and your brother to
fully close it.”
          “But that’s wonderful!” the helmet gushed.  “If the portal is still
open on your end then all I need to do is find a power source on this end.  And
convince Brother that going back is the best for everyone.  Thank you,
General.  I will contact you again when I can – this dreaming soul-bond is
difficult to maintain.”
          “Wait, before you go…” Roy took in a breath and let it out all at
once.  “Please tell Edward he is always in my thoughts.  And call me Roy,
Alphonse.  I look forward to speaking with you again.”
          “I’ll tell Brother.  Thank you, Roy.”  The glow faded from the eyes
of the helmet and Roy knew he was gone.  He laced his shaking fingers together
and placed them behind his head as he leaned back in his chair.  The Elrics
were alive and Alphonse was searching for a way to get them home. Suddenly
feeling energized Roy began to hum as he went back to the paperwork Hawkeye had
given him for the evening.
                                 Paris, France
                                  June  1925
          Alphonse slid back into his physical body and took a deep breath as
his body began the process of waking up.  He took a few more breaths to ground
himself before blinking his eyes open and allowing himself a fierce smile. 
He’d reached Roy Mustang at last!  He’d been trying to reach Mustang for months
now and finally, finally he’d accomplished his goal. 
          Alphonse turned his head slightly to take in the sight of his brother
asleep on the pillow next to him. The dreams where Ed cried out for Roy had
been going on since they’d gone through the Gate and it broke Al’s heart every
time to hear his brother’s grief. He’d brought up trying to communicate with
Roy, but Ed had been ambivalent for the longest time. Alphonse was desperate to
find a way back to Amestris and he needed Ed’s help to get there. He still
hadn’t brought up what Ed was worried about with Roy, but he’d found the
connection and the rest he could work out.  
          Speaking of dreams, it sounded as if a nightmare was troubling Ed at
the moment.  His older brother frowned and shook his head slightly while
mumbling “no you canseparate them, Tucker.  How could you put them together
without knowing how to take them apart?  You haveto, it’s Nina!”
          Alphonse felt sorrow grip him at the thought of the girl they’d been
unable to save from a terrible alchemic transmutation her father had inflicted
on her.  Both brothers had terrible nightmares and only the other was able to
soothe the nightmare away.  Al reached over and smoothed the hair out of Ed’s
face before sliding himself into the crease of Ed’s tightened frame. 
          “It’s only a dream, it’s over we’re safe now Brother,” he whispered
into Ed’s ear before kissing his cheek.  He kept repeating the words and
stroking Ed’s hair until Ed stilled and blinked at him. 
          “Al….I was dreaming about Nina,” Ed whispered.  He slowly relaxed at
the feel of Al’s hand in his hair and Al’s body against his own.
          “I know Brother.  But it’s over now and we need to get some more
sleep,” Al responded lowly before sighing into Ed’s neck.  “Roll over so I can
cuddle you,” the younger brother ordered sleepily.
          Ed obeyed and pulled Al’s arm more securely around him.  “Love you
Al” he muttered before drifting back to sleep.
          Al nuzzled closer to Ed’s neck.  I love you, too Brother.  And I
really hope you understand that I contacted Roy because I know how much you
love him.  And if Roy doesn’t want you back because of us I just may kill him
myself. Al stretched cat like against Ed before settling and falling asleep.
                             Munich, Germany 1923
After returning through the Gate to Germany the Elrics had struggled with how
to close the portal without alchemy.  The now defunct Thule society was also
working on a way to close the portal as it feared anyone else coming through. 
The first step was to kill Envy as the homunculus had basically been the
battery for the portal.  Ed hadn’t felt too badly about finally ending Envy’s
existence since the homunculus had killed their father without batting an eye. 
Once Envy was no longer powering the portal is closed on its own.
===============================================================================
                                        
          The Elrics had briefly spent time in Munich at the flat Gracia had
lent them, but after Alfons Heiderich’s memorial service they’d traveled with
Noah’s fellow gypsies for almost six months.  The brothers had learned much of
the different areas of this new world while traveling.  They had also learned
that their nightmares had not abated once crossing through to the other side of
the Gate.  Some nights there was no sleep to be had until finally Edward and
Alphonse pulled their sleeping blankets next to each other.  Whenever one
brother had a nightmare the other would instantly awaken and could soothe the
other back from the terror. 
          Because of the nightmares and the return of Alphonse’s memories of
the time he was armor the brothers began to discuss their situation in new
ways.  It had never occurred to them before, but when they had attempted to
transmute their mother the brothers had sewn their souls together.  Discussing
alchemical theory led to a very intense conversation regarding the reality that
their two souls were essentially tied together for the rest of their lives. 
Neither was entirely sure what this would mean for them, but both were adamant
about finding a way back to Amestris if at all possible.  The world they
occupied currently had just been through a truly terrible war and whispers of a
new one beginning had been talked about in every province they’d visited.
          After returning to Munich from their travels, Edward had been pulled
aside by Hughes.  Gracia and Hughes were dating and she had confessed concern
as to what might happen to the brothers if the rumored war were to erupt. 
Hughes had reached out to some of his sources and had false traveling papers
produced for both Edward and Alphonse.  Edward’s papers stated his age was 20
rather than his own 18 years of age and Alphonse’s papers had changed his age
by two years as well.  Hughes explained that brothers aged 20 and 15 would have
an easier time getting through the various checkpoints than brothers aged 18
and 13. 
          Edward had been grateful for the documents and began researching
which area would be best to flee to.  He’d enrolled Alphonse in a local school
and to neither of the brothers’ surprise the curriculum was material Alphonse
had covered as a ten year old.  But Alphonse enjoyed playing sports with the
other students and so for a couple of months things went well.
          Then a younger sibling of one of the students noticed Ed’s auto-mail
and the brothers barely escaped the panic that ensued from the locals.  They
were forced to say hard and fast goodbyes to Gracia and Hughes before fleeing
to Paris, France in December of 1923.
===============================================================================
 
          Leaving the only place they’d thought of as home wasn’t easy and
traveling during the winter was painful for Ed as his auto-mail shrank a bit
from the cold and his wounds ached fiercely.  Still they were able to find a
small apartment with a fireplace and began to settle into their new city.  Ed
was able to quite quickly find a position at one of the universities by showing
his knowledge of physics and chemistry.  After his first couple of payments he
and Al began to look into programs Al could enroll in.  Having papers that said
Al was 15 made it easier to get him into an advanced program than if the
university had known his actual age.  Of course the same went for Ed’s teaching
ability.
          Al loved Paris with its museums, art galleries, and casual acceptance
of artists and their eccentricities.  Nobody commented on Edward’s long hair
here as they had in Munich.  After the debacle with the sight of Ed’s auto-mail
Al had made the decision to stay on the outskirts of his fellow students.  They
were beginning to be happy here and staying on the periphery was the way to
keep anyone from seeing anything unusual.
          Sleeping arrangements had been simple enough as their small apartment
consisted of one large room with the fireplace and another small kitchen area. 
The bathroom was shared between two other apartments and Ed hoped to soon have
enough funds to move into an apartment that had its own bathroom.  The two
small mattresses were easy to push together to keep the nightmares at bay.  But
Al didn’t know what to do when Ed had  dreams about Roy.  Hearing his brother
cry out for Roy in his sleep hurt Al’s heart.  Those dreams only made him more
determined to find a way back to Amestris.
===============================================================================
 
          Just after Al’s 14th birthday (well physical birthday, mentally he
was 18 now) he began experiencing urges that thoroughly embarrassed him. 
During the day he was fine as he went about his classes and focused on homework
and other projects.  But at night when he woke with a throbbing he’d never had
to deal with before he was miserable.  Ed had noticed Al getting up to use the
bathroom several times at night and asked if everything was alright.  When
Alphonse promptly blushed Ed thought back to his own hormonal teenage years and
realized what part of the problem was.
          The next evening as Alphonse was preparing their meager meal Ed
casually placed a couple of jars on the counter beside him.  “This might help,”
he said quietly.  “I remember having….issues as a teenager, too.  If you aren’t
careful you can get chaffing so make sure and use that.”
          Al blinked at him in confusion, but Ed didn’t elaborate as he feared
embarrassing his younger brother.  After Ed had turned to take up his customary
spot next to the fireplace Al looked over the jars and realized what Ed had
procured for him.
          “Brother when you were going through this….did it happen every
night?”  Because in all honesty Al was a bit exhausted from the demands of his
body and was hoping it would be ending soon.
          Ed frowned a bit in concern.  “How often are you having problems Al? 
Don’t be embarrassed, every guy goes through it.”
          Al worried his bottom lip a bit before clearing his throat and
offering “It’s a lot.  Sometimes three or four times a night and then again in
the morning.”
          Ed’s eyebrows raised at that as he realized this was more than what
he’d gone through.  “That IS a lot, Al.  I mean, I got horny but usually it was
just in the morning right after I woke up and then occasionally I’d dream about
Roy and….yeah.  I wonder….” He’d thought of something and was frowning fiercely
over it as it occurred to him that some simple jars of lubrication may not take
care of the problem.
          “Just tell me what it is, Ed.  I’m embarrassed enough already, if
there’s something potentially wrong I need to know what it is.”  Alphonse
watched his brother with narrowed eyes as he finished putting the stew makings
together.  After thoroughly cleaning his hands he walked over to join Ed near
the fireplace.
          “It’s just a thought, but it mightbe because when you should have
been experiencing adolescence the first time there was no physical form for the
hormones to build in.  What if….there’s a slight possibility that you might be
experiencing two sets of hormones now.” 
          Al sank down on one of the poor excuses for a chair they’d found and
tried to gather his thoughts.  “But what does that even mean?  How could that
even work?  The human body isn’t made to be that way Ed!”
          “Yeah but both of our bodies have been through things that aren’t
normally possible Al.  Our souls are tied together for crying out loud!  You
had no hormones during your first time around as a teenager and now it seems
like your hormones are going haywire because you’ve got a body for your second
adolescence.  It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”  Ed wasn’t happy with
his conclusion, but it WAS the only thing that made any sense.  He rubbed his
forehead in irritation and glanced over at his brother.
          Al stared blankly into the fire for a few moments.  “Okay if you’re
right what does that mean?  I can’t keep waking up to go into the bathroom and
masturbate every night Ed.  What did…how did you manage your hormones when you
were a teen?”
          Edward’s eyes met his briefly then slid away.  “I had Roy,” he
answered quietly. 
          Al frowned fiercely as he tried to work this out.  “Okay you had Roy
and you and Roy had lots of sex and that was it?  So I just need to find
someone to have sex with?  That’s not going to be a problem at all since I’m
only 14 years old physically and, oh yeah, WE CAN’T GET CLOSE TO ANYONE.  Ed
what the hell am I going to do?”  Alphonse was practically screeching by the
end of his rant.
          Ed looked a bit pained but pointed out “It wasn’t just the sex, Al. 
Roy and I…we loved each other.  We shouldn’t have, but we did and that was the
end of it.  We belonged to each other in a way I’ve never belonged to anyone
but you.  And I don’t know exactly what we’re gonna do yet, but we’ll figure it
out together.”
          Ed got up to come sit next to Alphonse and wrapped him in a soothing
hug.  Al couldn’t help breathing in his brother’s scent and relaxing just from
the familiar smell.  They sat like that for a couple of minutes then Ed got up
to dish out the stew and day old bread they were having that night.
                                May 1924, Paris
          It had been going on for three weeks now and because Al was becoming
exhausted Edward had told him to stop getting up in the middle of the night to
go out to the communal bathroom.  Ed made sure there were lots of extra cloths
and a jar of lubricant next to Al’s side of the bed and on the few occasions
when Ed woke up in the middle of the night he would rub his brother’s back
soothingly until he finished.  It was awkward, but at least Al wasn’t as
exhausted as he had been.
          And try as he might Edward was no closer to finding a solution to
their problem.  Alphonse had been right that they couldn’t get close enough to
anyone else for Al to have a sexual relationship with them.  And when he
thought about it Ed wasn’t at all comfortable with the idea of some relative
stranger touching his brother sexually.  It just seemed wrong that Al should
have to resort to that when Edward knew what a loving sexual relationship was
like. 
          The only good thing that had come from Al’s hormonal attack was the
nightmares had lessened.  It was like his body could only concentrate on one
type of sleep disturbance at a time.  Ed’s nightmares were still happening as
they normally did, and sometimes he would dream of Roy and wake up feeling
worse than if he had been having a nightmare. 
          There seemed no end to it until the night their bodies hijacked both
the brothers with hormones and emotional turmoil.  Edward dreamed of Roy’s lips
on his, Roy’s hands caressing him, Ed joining their bodies together.  The dream
felt more real than any other he’d had of Roy since they’d come to this side of
the Gate.  As he was waking from the dream he realized he was on top of
Alphonse and while both had their boxers on it was obvious their erections had
been rubbing against each other for more than a few seconds.  Al had his hands
against Ed’s ass through his boxers and his body was very happy to be where it
was.  So happy that almost at the same time Ed realized what was happening Al
finished with a grunt.  Ed felt some of that warmth spill onto him and couldn’t
stop his own release.  He managed a gasped out “Oh fuck” before moving off his
brother and half falling into his pillow.  His breathing was still ragged and
he heard Al murmur with some amazement “That was so much better…”
          “Al…we have a problem,” he panted wearily. 
          “I know, Brother.  Can we talk about it tomorrow?” Al hesitantly
reached over to rub Ed’s back.
          “Yeah, okay.  Tomorrow,” Ed mumbled sleepily.  How is it that having
almost sex with my brother made me closer to Roy than I’ve felt since we got
here? Slightly horrified, Ed allowed himself to fall into an uneasy sleep. 
***** Chapter 2 *****
Chapter Summary
     Ed gets some unexpected good news and Al decides he's going to find a
     way to get them home to Amestris.
Chapter Notes
     Updates will not usually take place this quickly, but with the
     holiday I've been able to get quit a bit of writing done in the last
     few days.
     For continuity purposes the Elric's birthdays will be as follows:
     Ed's birthday is January 31, 1899 and Al's is April 15, 1900 in the
     Amestrian timeline.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
         Alphonse had already been up and had his shower by the time Edward
crawled out of bed the next morning.  Mornings were always full of not being
awake enough and getting out the door just in time for Edward to make it to the
first class he taught on time.  Today however he was met with a note taped on
his classroom door that class was cancelled. 
Frowning he made his way to his office and found a letter from Nancy, the
secretary of the head of the Mathematics department.  Technically even though
Ed taught physics and chemistry which were both sciences he fell under the
mathematics listing because he’d been hired provisionally for his ability to
write code out better than anyone else at the University.  The letter requested
he come see Nancy as soon as possible regarding important developments. 
          Edward made his way to Nancy’s desk worrying the entire way.  Al and
I still have to talk and if they’re firing me we are so fucked.  We can’t get
thrown out of our apartment right now!  He arrived at Nancy’s desk and was
nonplussed to see the older lady give him a welcoming smile.
          “Ah Professor Elric I see you received my note.  The department head
was going to tell you the good news, but he had something come up unexpectedly,
so I get to tell you.”  Nancy beamed at him while Edward felt some of the
tension leave his body.  Not getting fired then.
          “You never told any of us you picked up languages so fast, so now
that you no longer need the translator for your classes the University wants to
take you on as tenured faculty.  That means you are entitled to one of the
faculty apartments and I’m going to show you where yours is.  We were a bit
concerned because the apartments are normally meant for single professors, but
this one has an extra room that could be used for your younger brother so it’s
just perfect for you!  Shall we go look at it?”  Nancy was standing and
ushering him out the door as Ed struggled to walk and pick his mouth up off the
floor.
          “Wait, what does tenured faculty mean?  I’m sorry I’m still so new to
Paris and I don’t quite understand…” Edward gave Nancy a confused look as she
continued to pull him out into the courtyard. 
          “Oh my dear sometimes I forget that you’re not used to how we do
things here.  Tenured faculty members get a furnished apartment near the
University that they don’t have to pay out of pocket for.  They also get
approximately three times as much in payment as provisional faculty members. 
Congratulations Professor Elric you have managed to thoroughly impress your
colleagues and department head.”  She beamed at him again as she led him across
the street and down two blocks. 
          They stopped outside a bakery that smelled heavenly and Ed pulled
himself out of his stupor long enough to frown at the windows.  “My apartment
is a bakery?”
          Nancy almost fell over laughing and had to wipe her eyes several
times before she could answer him.  “Oh my you are so funny!  Your apartment is
up these stairs, come along now.”
          Ed followed her through another door and up the stairs to a single
doorway that Nancy grinned at and handed him two keys.  “One for you and one
for your brother,” she answered at his raised brows.  Ed inserted the key into
the lock and opened the front door. 
          The entrance and living area alone were bigger than the entire
apartment they were living in now.  Ed slowly walked through the furnished
apartment which included its own bathroom, a kitchen area, a main bedroom, a
smaller one that looked as if it had been previously used as a study, and back
into the living area which had a huge fireplace and built-in bookshelves.  He
managed to make it to the sofa and sit down before his flesh leg gave out. 
“I…..I didn’t do anything special why did they give me this?”
          Nancy blinked at him a couple of times and seemed to realize he was
serious and not fishing for compliments.  “My dear, do you really not
understand the gift you have given to this University?  It is always difficult
to find competent mathematicians, and now we have one who can also teach
physics and chemistry.  One word of caution, if you do ever need to leave the
area for any reason unexpectedly don’t tell anyone at the University.  They
will try to hang onto you if they can.”  Nancy gazed meaningfully at him and he
realized she was warning him in her own way that if he and Alphonse needed to
flee to avoid military service for France they would need to be extremely
discreet and hasty. 
          Ed gave Nancy one of his full-blown smiles, the ones he saved only
for those who had come to mean something to him.  Seeing his understanding she
nodded back before adding briskly “You have today and tomorrow to completely
move your belongings from your other residence into your apartment.  After that
you’ll be expected to teach your courses as you normally would.  Please let us
know what furniture you will need to turn the study into a suitable bedroom for
your brother.”
          Ed scratched his head thoughtfully.  “I think the only thing that
will need changing is to take the desk out and put a bed in.  Al has almost as
many books as I do now so he’ll need that bookshelf.  He’ll also need a
dresser.”
          “I’ll let them know.  You should be able to expect the new bed and
dresser later today.  Congratulations again, Professor Elric,” she said with a
twinkling smile and she let herself out.
          Ed was still unable to get up, but was starting to believe this had
actually happened.  Something good happened.  Nothing good has ever happened
here except that Al came through the Gate with me last time.  Maybe things will
get a little easier now.  I wish I could show this place to Roy….
          Familiar sorrow filled Ed at the thought of Roy, but he made himself
take a deep breath and then get up to look around the apartment once again.
===============================================================================
 
          When Alphonse arrived home from his classes Ed was waiting for him. 
Alphonse tilted his head at him as he tried to figure out what was different,
but then he noticed all the books were gone.  Startled his eyes darted back to
Ed’s who only gave him a smile.
          “Brother what’s happening?”  Al was beginning to panic because if the
BOOKS were gone then something bad must have happened.
          “Something good happened today, but I’m just gonna show you.  Come
on, we’ll pick up some food on the way.”  Ed gave him another mysterious grin
and walked out the front door.  Al had no choice but to follow him, so out the
door he went.
          Al worried his bottom lip the entire time they were walking.  When
they finally stopped outside of the bakery Al looked around in confusion.  They
had walked past the University to get here, but he could still see the main
campus building’s spire from here. 
          Ed was perusing the menu as Al finally turned around to focus on
him.  “What do you think?  Their sandwiches look pretty good but maybe we
should get some stew, too.”
          Alphonse peered at the menu and realized how hungry he was.  “Let’s
get that and some of those pastries for in the morning.  You still haven’t told
me where we’re going Ed.”
          “It’s not far now.  And I can’t wait to see your face when we get
there.”  Ed could barely contain his grin, but Al was just confused so he
didn’t say anything.
          Ed paid for their food and began heading back outside.  He waited for
Alphonse to join him then pulled open the door next to the bakery entrance. 
“Come on up these stairs, Al.”
          Shaking his head, Al followed Ed with no idea what was going on. 
They reached the top of the stairs and Edward handed Al a key.  “Here you go,
can you open that door?  My hands are kind of full.”
          Al gave a puzzled look at the key, but shrugged his shoulders and put
it into the lock.  After the lock clicked he pushed the door open, but Ed
breezed past him as if he owned the place.  “Ed!  What are you doing we can’t
just walk in!”
          After sitting the food on the table Ed turned to beam at his
brother.  “Actually we can just walk in.  This is our new place, Al.  The
University decided to hire me as a full-time professor and this is part of the
package.  Go on – look around!  The place is amazing and has everything we
need.”
          Alphonse thought a joke was being played on him, but Ed walked past
to shut the front door and bolt it.  Ed really was acting like this place was
theirs, but…he turned and saw several of their books on the bookshelf.  If the
books are here, then this really IS our new home.
          His feet finally became unstuck from the floor and he slowly began
wandering around the place.  The bathroom was amazing – it had not only a claw
foot bathtub, but also a small shower built into the corner.  No more having to
share with the neighbors!  He looked into the doorway of the master bedroom and
noticed the desk, dresser, bookshelf, and quite large bed.  The next room had a
smaller bed, and bookshelf along with a small dresser.  Al stood in that
doorway for longer than he had anywhere else and Ed came up to grin at him.
          “Isn’t it perfect?  And the best part is this is included as part of
the package.  We don’t have to pay a rooming fee for this AND my pay tripled! 
As long as we don’t have any incidents we’ll be set here for a good long
while.”
          Ed finally noticed Al had been silent while he prattled on.  He
walked around so he could see Al’s face as he asked “Hey what’s wrong?”
          Alphonse swallowed and glanced away from Ed.  “This is my room isn’t
it?  Is it because of last night?  Because I thought we were going to talk
about it….”
          Edward felt like an idiot as he realized the smaller bedroom might
come off as a punishment.  “Technically it’s your bedroom because we have to
keep up appearances and if anyone were to come by and we didn’t have a second
bedroom for you…well.  That would be bad.  But, like you said we do need to
talk about what happened.  Come on let’s go back into the living area.”
          Ed had Al sit down on the couch and brought sandwiches and hot coffee
over so they could eat while they talked.  They were both nervous about this,
but it had to be done and the Elrics never shirked from anything.
          “I’ve been thinking about it all day between classes,” Al began as Ed
took a bite of his sandwich.  “And the only thing that makes any sort of sense
is that because our souls are tied together our bodies are trying to merge us
together.  Alchemical theory shows that a soul will always try to return to its
body.  And since our souls are between our bodies…well our bodies are trying to
merge sexually.”  Al took in a miserable breath and shook his head.  “But I
don’t really understand beyond the alchemical theory of our souls why this is
happening.  You’re in love with Roy and I want to get married and have children
one day.  I’ve neverbeen sexually attracted to you before Ed.  This is…it’s
embarrassing and I don’t know what to do about it.”
          Edward had been slowly nodding in agreement with what Al was saying. 
“I love you Al, you know I do.  But yeah, I’m in love with Roy and you’re
right, I’ve never been sexually attracted to you either.  Maybe it’s because
we’re cut off from everyone and everything we know and love back home in
Amestris.  I mean, we really can’tform any real relationships here because
people don’t know what auto-mail is and they freak out if they see it.  This
thing that’s happening between us right now…society would look down upon it. 
To be honest I don’t really give a shit what anyone else thinks, but I’m not
thrilled this is happening.  But I also don’t want you to have to go get sexual
attention from some stranger.  And there’s the issue that you’re mentally 18,
but physically 14.  I’m pretty sure the age of consent is 16 here just like it
is in Amestris.  Sure we have false papers that say you’re already 16, but
would you want to just grab some random person off the streets to have sex
with?”
          Al had been nibbling on his sandwich while listening to Ed.  “All
that’s true, but I didn’t hear a solution in any of it.  And no, having sex
with a stranger isn’t going to work.  The only good thing to come out of last
night was that I didn’t wake up horny once afterwards.  This morning wasn’t
bad, either.”
          “Okay so here’s the deal Al.  If we keep sleeping in the same bed
together, which I’m pretty sure we both want to do because of the fucking
nightmares, we’re gonna end up touching each other like we did last night.  And
while it felt amazing, I need to know if that’s something that we can both
handle.  Because if it’s not we’re gonna need to use both bedrooms.”
          Alphonse was quiet for some time while he ate and thought about how
he felt.  Finally he looked at Edward who had just finished his sandwich and
was sipping his coffee.  “I think the big question for me is going to be if we
do this, and we find a way to get back to Amestris eventually, is this going to
change things between you and Roy?”
          Ed swallowed hard and put his coffee down.  “To be honest I’ve given
up on getting back to Amestris.  I will alwayslove Roy Mustang and if I ever
ran across his double here there’s no way I’d ever approach him.  Because it
wouldn’t really be Roy and I can’t be with someone who looks and sounds like
Roy, but isn’t him.  So as far as I’m concerned that’s not an issue.  I
wouldn’t know the first thing about how to open up a portal to get home and
there’s no telling what toll we might have to pay for that.  It’s just not even
worth thinking about.”
         Al sat in silence thinking about that.  “Ed does that mean you just
plan on being on your own for the rest of your life?  As long as we’re on this
side of the Gate?”
          Ed looked over at the bookshelf as if he couldn’t quite bring himself
to meet Al’s gaze.  “Well yeah.  I can’t get close to anyone with my auto-
mail.  We can’t trust that they won’t do what those people in Munich did and we
have a good deal here now.  I don’t want to chance it.”
          Alphonse felt the anger building deep inside him and at that moment
decided he wasgoing to find a way to get them home.  They both deserved a
chance at happiness and he was damn well going to make sure that happened.
          “Alright Ed, let’s say for now that we’re planning on staying here. 
I don’t want to sleep in the smaller bedroom, but I will if that’s what we need
to do.  It’s really up to you at this point.  You’re the one with the most to
lose if this ever got out.”
          Ed rubbed a hand over his face and looked down at his glove.  “Why
don’t we just play it by ear and see what happens.  If it’s not much more than
what happened last night then it won’t really matter.”
===============================================================================
 
          That evening Ed woke up and felt Al against his back.  They never
fell asleep against each other, but lately he’d woken a few times to find Al’s
body spooning his.  It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling so Ed had never said
anything about it.
          Things were a bit different now that their bodies had decided sex was
a good idea between them.  Ed felt Alphonse’s erection against the back of his
ass and drew in a startled breath.  Al was still asleep and had been slowly
rocking against Ed.  It was just enough to wake Ed up and he realized the
contact had given him a semi-hard on as well.  Thinking quickly he decided to
just go with it and lifted his auto-mail leg a bit so Al’s erection settled
more between his cheeks. 
          Ed pulled Al’s hand over his waist and laced their fingers together
as Al’s body began to rock against his faster.  It was far from unpleasant and
Ed bit his lip to keep a moan from getting out.  Alphonse was worked up enough
that pre-cum had wet the front of his boxers and that wetness rubbed against Ed
every time Al rocked his hips.  Ed couldn’t help his body’s own response and
started pushing back onto Al.  It was amazing to have someone touch him like
this again.  Even though he didn’t want his brother this way emotionally, Ed
couldn’t hide from the fact his body definitely wanted this.  Rocking harder
back against Al, Ed drew his auto-mail hand down and pushed it against the
front of his boxers.
          Al was breathing rapidly into the back of his neck now and Ed knew it
wouldn’t be much longer since Al’s body was 14 and didn’t know how to last
yet.  He firmly kept pressure on the front of his cock and shifted his position
a bit so Al’s cock was rubbing up against the bottom of his own.  It felt so
good and he couldn’t quite keep the whimper of need from escaping.
          He could feel his orgasm approaching and didn’t know if he should do
anything else for Al, but didn’t have to worry when he felt the warm, wet spill
against him.  With two firm strokes of his hand, Ed orgasmed and hugged Al’s
arm further up into his chest.  I don’t know what Roy would think about this,
but right now Al and I only have each other.  And I won’t let him go through
this alone.  I’ll find a way to make this work.  I haveto.
Chapter End Notes
     Please feel free to comment on any typos or errors.
***** Chapter 3 *****
Chapter Summary
     Even though Roy is in Amestris, there are times it feels as if he's
     in Paris with Ed.
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                               Central, Amestris
                                  July, 1919
          Roy had moved the helmet to his home after Alphonse’s last ‘visit’
for a number of reasons.  Obviously it wouldn’t do for a superior officer to be
in Roy’s office if Alphonse were to pop in and begin talking again.  He also
didn’t want to get the hopes up of any of his team members until there was some
actual way to get the Elrics home instead of just the belief that they might be
able to accomplish the impossible again.  And there were some things he wanted
to talk to Alphonse about that he just couldn’t mention in the office.
          It had been a month since he’d last spoken to Alphonse and Roy tried
very hard not to get his hopes up as Al had mentioned this type of soul-bond
was difficult to achieve.  Roy spent a couple of hours every evening in his
study before a fireplace going over paperwork and he’d placed the helmet in
this room.  The best he could hope for was Alphonse would try contacting him
around the same time as he had last time and this was why he’d begun spending
more time in his study in the evenings.  It wasn’t an unpleasant place to spend
time and there were also some pleasant memories of the times he and Edward had
spent in this room that decided the location.
          He was fairly deep in paperwork when Alphonse’s voice came to him. 
“Hello Roy, have you been busy since we last spoke?”
          Startled, Roy lifted his head to stare blankly, then smiled as he
realized Alphonse had again come to speak with him.  “Hawkeye always manages to
keep me busier than I’d like to be.  How are you and Edward?”
          Alphonse sighed a bit before answering.  “We’re well, but I need to
get Ed back to Amestris.  Do you have any idea what it’s like living in a world
where nobody knows what auto-mail is?  We had to leave the home where we had
friends because someone at a sports function saw Ed’s leg and panicked.  Now we
can’t even get close to anyone because we don’t want to have to leave another
country.”
          Roy realized he’d never thought of what it would be like to live in a
world with no auto-mail because Ed’s auto-mail had become so very much a part
of his life.  Alphonse sounded miserable describing the paranoia they must
constantly live in and Roy didn’t know quite how to respond.  He finally
settled on “Your former friends never wondered about his auto-mail?”
          Alphonse was quiet for a moment before answering.  “It was….Mr.
Hughes and Gracia and I think Gracia might have seen Ed’s auto-mail once, but
she just didn’t care because she loved Ed.  There are….doubles of the people we
knew at home here and it can get…confusing sometimes.”  Alphonse drew in a
shuddering breath before continuing.  “We were walking home to our apartment
one afternoon and Ed just stopped right in front of me.  I almost ran into him,
but he grabbed me and pulled me back into the shadow of an alley.  He was white
as a sheet and when I looked across the street at what he was looking at….it
was you.  Or a version of you.  Ed wouldn’t say anything until the other you
was gone.  And after that day he changed the way we went home so that we’d
never risk running into him again.  Ed…he can’t meet another you because it
would hurt too much, Roy.  It wouldn’t be the real you and we could do it with
Mr. Hughes because he’s gone, but you’re not.  And I haveto get him home.”
          Roy swallowed with effort.  “I miss him, too.  More than I can really
talk about to anyone but yourself.  Have you had any luck researching a way to
return to Amestris?”
          “Well yes and no.  There’s no alchemy here, but there is a belief in
‘old magic’ that I’ve been looking into.  It was concentrated around the Celtic
tribes and the Italian witches, but there are numerous standing stones around
Europe.  I’m trying to find out which would be closest to our current location
and look into which of the old festivals built the most magical energy. 
There’s an interesting theory that during one festival the veil between the
worlds opens so I’m trying to get as much information on that as I can.”
          Roy rolled all this over in his head.  It really wasn’t very much to
go on and there was little he could do on the Amestris side of the Gate. 
Quietly he asked “Is there anything at all I can do for you and Edward?”
          Alphonse drew in an excited little breath as he thought of
something.  “These soul-bonds can’t last long, but if you could write to
Brother and read me the letters I could tell him what they said when I get
back.  It wouldn’t be quite the same as hearing your voice, but it might give
him some hope.”
          “Short letters, then.  Yes I can write to Edward and read them to you
so you can relay them to him.  If you do ever come across anything I can do to
help you get back to Amestris please don’t hesitate to tell me, Alphonse.”
          “I think the letters will be helpful.  Brother is being…difficult
about researching a way back to Amestris.  He doesn’t know what the toll will
be and…there have been some complications.”  Alphonse’s voice trailed off
uncomfortably and Roy frowned.
          “Complications…?” he began, but Alphonse cut him off.  “I’m sorry,
but I can’t keep this up anymore.  I’ll tell you next time, I promise!”
          Roy couldn’t quite understand what would keep Ed from wanting to at
least research a way back through the Gate.  Nothing had been able to stop him
from searching for a way to restore Alphonse’s body.  It occurred to Roy that
Ed may think the toll would cost part of the body he’d fought so hard to regain
for Al, and of course he would pause at that.  The only person who might be
able to convince him to pursue that risk would be Alphonse.
          Very well then, I’ll write to Edward as you suggested Alphonse. 
Maybe between the two of us we can convince him it’s worth the risk.
                             September 1924, Paris
          It was still very hot, but the change of the seasons was beginning to
take place.  The summer had been hard on Ed because he had to wear full body
clothing anytime he left the apartment.  The brothers had been able to find
some very lightweight clothes that Ed switched to in the heat, but there were
times when it was very uncomfortable.  Alphonse had finally placed an extra
pair of gloves and lightweight coat next to their front door in case there were
any deliveries because Ed typically stripped down to just his pants at home. 
The paranoia of having to leave their home in Paris and start all over again
was a very real thing for the brothers.
          Edward didn’t know that Alphonse was looking into possible means to
get them back to Amestris.  He was still firm on his stance that going back to
Amestris was a bad idea and anytime Al tried to bring it up Ed would abruptly
change the subject. 
          Because of his faculty income Edward had been quietly creating an
escape fund for them just in case they had to leave unexpectedly again.  All
the care in the world wouldn’t save them from panicked citizens if his auto-
mail was discovered and they didn’t have Hughes to provide a way out for them
this time.
          Edward enjoyed spending time with his fellow faculty and they all
thought him a bit eccentric in always wearing a coat and gloves, but enjoyed
his company nonetheless.  Alphonse always seemed to be studying something, but
then having noses in books was second nature to the brothers, so Ed never
really thought much about it.
          Over the months their bodies had become accustomed to sleeping as
close to each other as possible.  At some point they’d decided to leave off
with the boxers as it really just created more of an issue than not wearing
them did.  Nightmares were still a problem, but it seemed as if Alphonse’s
hormonal overload was somewhat soothed just by the proximity of Ed’s naked
body.  It had taken some getting used to, but both Al and Ed had accepted that
part of staying on this side of the Gate meant giving in to the needs of their
bodies.
          Gradually they had begun touching each other more while awake instead
of having it always begin while sleeping.  The touches weren’t always sexual,
but if anyone outside of their home were to see them they would wonder if
anything unusual were going on.  Alphonse had become quite adept at massaging
around Ed’s auto-mail ports, and many times the massages led to something
more.  During one of these times Alphonse had curiously nudged Ed’s cock with
his nose.  “Will my body change as I grow older?  You’re so much more developed
than I am…”
          Ed wrinkled his nose at Al in confusion.  “What do you mean?  You’re
already the same height I am and you’re probably going to be much taller than
me.”
          “Well yes, but other parts of you are….fuller than mine.”  Alphonse
slowly ran a finger the length of Ed and smiled a bit as Ed sucked in a
startled breath.  “When you were with Roy were you like this?”
          Al moved his hand to Ed’s hip as he waited for Ed’s response.  The
frown on Ed’s face indicated he was trying to remember four years ago and if
his body had been different.  His eyebrows raised a bit as he realized there
had been some changes since then.  “Yeah I guess you’re right, but I just
hadn’t thought about it.  I got a bit…wider in the last few years but I never
noticed because” Ed stopped abruptly.
          “Because you weren’t with anyone here,” Al finished for him quietly. 
“Brother I think you need to know that I still want to find a way for us to get
back to Amestris.  This is working between us now, but I can’t just stand by
and watch you be alone for the rest of your life.  Roy loves you…he will love
you after he finds out what’s happened here.”  Alphonse stopped and looked at
Ed’s face carefully to see how he was taking this.  “I’m working on a way to
communicate with Roy, but I haven’t been able to reach him yet.  Do you really
think he won’t want you anymore because of what we’ve done?”
          Ed swallowed hard.  He ran his auto-mail hand down to Al’s on his hip
to hold hands.  “I don’t know what he’d think.  I’m scared of what he might do,
Al.  Roy and I never expected to fall for each other.  He’d had some
relationships before that meant something, but nothing like this.  We…were
going to find a way to spend the rest of our lives together, but this whole
being on another world thing.  We could never have planned for this orfor your
unique adolescence and our souls trying to merge our bodies.  And there’s still
the possibility that if we do get back to Amestris…even when you’re older our
souls are gonna keep pulling at our bodies.  Have you thought about that at
all?”
          Alphonse gazed stubbornly back at Edward.  “That isa possibility, but
I think once my hormones level out we’ll be able to handle it.  I’m going to
keep looking for a way back and I’d like for you to help me.” 
          “If you can contact Roy and tell him, and he accepts everything, then
I'll help you.  But I can’t do it until I know what he thinks, Al.  This isn’t
something that most people would be able to accept and deal with.  Anywhere
we’ve ever lived there have been laws against incest.  There has never been
anything like what’s happened to us.  I doubt anyone would ever understand, let
alone accept what we’re doing.  Even in Amestris we’d have to hide just like we
do here.  At least this place is safe – nobody can hear anything through these
walls.”
          Alphonse crawled up next to Ed on the bed and put his arms around
him.  “Alright.  I’ll research on my own until I can give you a good response
from Roy.  I can’t accept that you might have to live the rest of your life in
hiding because of the auto-mail.  And then you will help me, Brother.  Now I’m
going to take a bath.  Would you like to join me?  The water might help your
joints…”
          “Yeah I’ll be right there,” Ed murmured as Al got up and headed
toward the bathroom. 
                             December 1924, Paris
          Ed woke up and shivered, pulling both the many covers and Alphonse
closer.  It was cold enough tonight they’d pulled the mattress out of the
bedroom and into the living area where the fireplace was.  He’d woken because
the fire had gone out and with a sigh Ed resigned himself to getting up to
start it again.  Al frowned in his sleep when Edward left his side, and by the
time Ed had the fire going again Al was looking at him sleepily. 
          “Has sleeping in here made it easier, Brother?” he asked around a
yawn.  Ed smiled at him before climbing back under the blankets.  “Yeah the
warmth helps a bit.  I don’t ache as much in here.”
          Ed took up his customary position with Al spooning him and chuckled a
bit.  “Well it looks like it’s a good thing I got up to tend the fire.  Feeling
a bit frisky are you?”
          Alphonse sighed into Ed’s shoulder.  “Oh you know it’s not as bad as
it used to be.  I would have been fine to just go back to sleep tonight, but
since you brought it up…” Al rocked slowly up against Ed’s ass.  “It’s been a
bit since you had a dream about Roy…would you rather not tonight?”
          Edward rolled over and met Al’s eyes.  “You know we don’t have to
only do this when I’m dreaming of Roy.  This is about what you need, too.
 We’ve already agreed that until you talk to Roy we’re going to keep this up
until things change."  Ed swallowed momentarily then asked softly "Would you
like to try something new tonight, Alphonse?”
          Wide eyes met his.  After a shy smile and nod Ed moved everything off
of them since the fire was going strong and keeping them warm.  He sat back on
his knees and watched how the firelight reflected off of Alphonse and
remembered…Roy always loved to watch me in front of a fireplace.  I can see now
why he loved it so much…Al is practically glowing right now. 
          “Brother?”
          Ed smiled down at Al and leaned forward to run his fingertips lightly
down his brother’s arms.  Alphonse always had the best reaction when Ed used
both hands….he shivered delicately and rolled onto his back.  Edward took the
braid out of his hair and let it trail over Alphonse while he slowly breathed
out over Al’s chest. 
          Al made the tiniest arch upwards when Ed’s tongue quickly licked just
above his navel.  Moving unhurriedly Ed scooted downwards and trailed that
tongue right into the crease where Al’s thigh met his hips.  As Al pulled his
legs up Ed reached for the jar of lubrication he’d set out just in case.  With
a small smile he breathed out over Al’s cock, but didn’t touch him.
          Al let out a bit of a strangled noise and raised his head.  “Umm new
is good, but Ed, if you’re just going to breathe over me all night can you just
hand me the jar?”
          Ed snorted out a laugh as he coated his two of his flesh fingers with
lubrication.  “And people think you’re the patient one,” he murmured.
          “Just sit back and relax, Al.  I think you’ll really like this, but I
need you to not tense up.”  He reached with his auto-mail hand underneath Al’s
right leg and massaged his cheek.  Then he lay down at an angle where he could
tease and torment Al with his breath and tongue.
          Alphonse lay back and turned his head to gaze into the flames. 
Flames had always had a hypnotizing effect on him so he kept his gaze on them
as the auto-mail rubbed one cheek and another finger began gently circling just
to the side of that. 
          “Is this okay?” Ed asked quietly.  Al gave a small hum of assent as
that finger moved from circling to pressing.  Ed breathed onto him as the
finger moved just a bit inside.  The flames danced in front of Al and Ed’s
finger slowly joined the dance.
          At some point another finger joined the first and Al realized his
body was rocking unconsciously with Ed’s fingers.  He heard Ed’s voice ask if
this was still okay and all he could manage was a choked “don’t stop.”
          Ed’s fingers pushed and pulled inside of him.  Then they curled and
hit something and Al almost came up off the blankets.  Wildly he sat up and
looked down at Ed who glanced up in concern.  “What…”
          “Come here,” Alphonse rasped.   Frowning, Ed sat up to see what
exactly Al wanted.  Al held his hands out to Ed and pulled him down on top of
him. 
          “Where’s the jar?”  Ed handed it wordlessly to his brother and waited
as Al coated his fingers as well.
          Al lay back down on the pillows and pulled his knees up so Ed had
easy access.  Ed raised an eyebrow until Alphonse pulled their cocks together
with his lubed hand.  “I won’t last long if you do that again, so you’re going,
too.”
          Edward placed his auto-mail hand on Al’s hip for balance and watched
Al’s face as his fingers went back to work.  The emotions flickering across his
brother’s face made Ed realize why Roy had watched him so very intently during
sex.  Watching the effect your body had on another person’s, especially a
person you loved, was intoxicating.  Al’s hand moved between them as Ed’s
fingers moved inside Al.
          It really didn’t take long, and Ed was grateful for the extra cloths
they always had ready as they burrowed back under the covers.  Alphonse pulled
him close and whispered “I’m almost ready to try reaching out to Roy.  Just
give me some time and then we’ll both be searching for a way home.”
          Ed made a noise of assent and settled back against Al.  He gazed into
the flames which weren’t burning as quickly now.  We’ll try it your way.  And I
hope you’re right because if Roy can’t accept this then we’re just gonna stay
here and make the best of it.  I won’t risk losing any part of your body to get
home unless there’s a reason waiting for both of us there.
Chapter End Notes
     I went back and did some editing to the first two chapters after I
     realized the times weren't matching quite like I wanted them to.
     Please do point out any typos.
***** Chapter 4 *****
Chapter Summary
     Angst. So much angst.
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                               Central, Amestris
                                 August, 1919
          Roy had been keeping the small stack of letters he’d written to
Edward in his study so that whenever Alphonse was able to contact him again
they’d be readily available.  He was a bit troubled by the thought of the
complications Al had mentioned, but kept himself from obsessing over that
thought by writing to letters to Ed.
          He glanced up and over at the helmet when he heard “Hello Roy.  Did
you write the letters to Ed like I asked?”
          Roy smiled at the helmet.  He really didn’t know if Alphonse could
see him or not, but preferred to think that he could.  “Yes I wrote quite a
few, but tried to keep them short since we don’t have much time during your
visits.”
          “That’s great, and I’m hoping you can read me a couple of them so I
can relay them to Ed.  But first….” If a helmet could take in a bracing breath
this one was.  “I need to tell you something.”
          “You’d mentioned complications earlier, is that what you need to tell
me about?”
          “Yes.  You remember I told you we have to be very careful not to get
close to anyone because of Ed’s auto-mail?  Okay, remember that.  Also, I don’t
know how much Ed ever told you about when we tried to bring Mom back, but
during the human transmutation we sort of tied our souls together.”
          Roy frowned as this seemed to ring a bell in his head.  He’d studied
lots of alchemical theory and while he’d never gotten as deep into human
transmutation as the Elrics two bodies sharing souls sounded off. 
          “Go ahead Alphonse, I’m still listening.”
          Another deep breath sound was heard from the helmet.  “There’s also
this thing where I’m living through a second adolescence.  And since I had no
physical form during the first one the only thing we’ve been able to come up
with is that my body is now producing a double dose of hormones.”
          Roy’s frown increased as his brain began to pick out certain phrases
from the times he’d spoken with Alphonse.  We can’t get close to anyone….our
souls are tied together….my body is producing a double dose of hormones….Edward
is being difficult about finding a way back to Amestris. Roy remembered his own
adolescence and the physical needs of his body.  He swallowed hard as something
began to pound through his skull.  Edward would never allow a stranger to touch
Alphonse at this age….Edward doesn’t want to come home….oh my God.
          For a moment it seemed as if all of the air in the room was just
gone.  Roy was finally able to force air back into his lungs and realized
Alphonse had been calling his name in concern.
          He held up his hand and breathed in a few more breaths before lifting
his head to look at the helmet.  “Alphonse, are you trying oh so delicately to
tell me that you and Edward are sexually intimate?”
          If the helmet could have looked down, it would have.  There was
silence for a few moments before Alphonse answered quietly “Ed doesn’t think
you’ll want him anymore.  Neither of us is happy that this started, but I was
exhausted from waking up all night to…and…my body calms down when I’m with Ed. 
And he dreams about you all the time Roy.  I need to get him home so he can be
with you again.  If we’re around everyone again I think this might get better
and we….won’t have to anymore.”
          Roy wanted to wrap his arms around himself, but placed them on his
knees instead.  He took in a few more breaths before giving a reply.  “I will
alwayswant Edward.  This is going to take me some time to work through, but
there is nothing Edward could do that would make me want him out of my life. 
And Alphonse…in case either of you was wondering, I have not been with anyone
since the both of you left.”
          Roy briefly looked around his study and wondered why it looked so
normal when an emotional bomb had just shattered him.  “I understand the
alchemical theory of a soul always trying to connect with its body.  Logically
I can work that out.  And I understand the desperation you both must have
felt.  It just….I need a bit of time Alphonse.”
         “Time is something that won’t be a problem…I can only do this about
once a month.  I’m really very sorry to have to have told you all this Roy, but
Brother won’t help me with any of the research or brainstorming until he knows
how you feel about this.  We’re both aware of what would happen if anyone else
found out, but we couldn’t not tell you.  What would you like me to say to
Brother?”
          Roy swallowed hard.  “Tell him I will always love him and we will
find a way to work through this.  I don’t know what that way is right now, but
we will find it.  Do you have enough strength to hear one of the letters now?”
          The helmet’s eyes seemed to glow for a moment.  “If it’s a very short
one, yes.  Thank you.  Thank you so much for not rejecting him Roy.”
          Roy picked up his stack of letters and automatically grabbed the last
one he’d written.  He had to clear his throat a couple of times before the
words came out smoothly.  The letter was a short description of the small park
he walked past every day.  It described how he wished Edward could see how the
changing seasons were reflected and the little things he noticed about the
park.  There was a bit about a bench Edward used to sit on to hand out bread to
the ducks.  It ended with You alone know how much I miss you.  Please decide to
come home, Edward.  Amestris only glows when you’re in it.
          He finished reading and looked up at the helmet again.  “Thank you,”
it whispered again before the light faded from the eyes.
          Roy lay down on his couch and looked into his fireplace.  In this
moment he just hurt, but he would find a way to deal with this.  It hadn’t been
done to hurt anyone and he wouldn’t hold it over either of their heads.  But
oh…his insides clenched.  And Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, could swear it
was raining inside his study.
                            January 31, 1925, Paris
          Alphonse had ordered a special cake for Ed ‘s birthday at the
downstairs bakery.  He’d made sure to get home from his classes earlier than he
usually would so he could make Ed a special dinner.  They hadn’t bothered
really celebrating birthdays last year and he’d been hoping to tell Ed that
he’d made contact with Roy, but that hadn’t happened yet.  He had made it
through to Amestris on several different occasions and managed to almost give
one old gentleman a heart attack, so he could tell Ed that at least.
          It was so strange to think that Ed was 20 years old now because that
meant that Al shouldbe almost 19, but his physical body was still 14.  It was
all so frustrating at times because if he were his actual age they may never
have had to deal with some of the things they were dealing with now.  And while
Ed tried to keep it to himself Alphonse knew that he always wondered if Roy
could ever accept it.  Alphonse personally thought that Ed probably felt like
he was cheating on Roy by becoming involved with anyone, so he tried to be as
sensitive as he could to Ed’s reactions.
          And Alphonse could readily admit to himself a sense of relief that he
still found girls attractive.  He’d also gained an appreciation for the male
form, but that was mostly because it was Ed.  His own body was still growing
(although he never pointed out that he’d already grown taller than his brother)
and had several years before it would be fully developed.  Often Alphonse would
let his eyes travel over Ed’s body and wonder if his shoulders would become as
broad, or if his musculature would be as pronounced.  Edward Elric had not lost
his physique even though he’d given up on training once reaching this side of
the Gate.
          Humming to himself, Alphonse let himself into the apartment and began
to prepare Ed’s birthday dinner.  He’d decided to make several small meals
since they didn’t celebrate either birthday last year and food never lasted
long enough to go bad between the brothers.
          Two hours later when Ed got home Alphonse had prepared stew, steak
and potatoes, lemon pepper chicken, candied carrots, and a tossed salad because
he’d wanted the greens.  Ed walked into the kitchen and gaped at all the food. 
Alphonse threw him a grin and then brought out the cake as well.
          Later once the food that hadn’t been eaten had been put away and Ed’s
muscles had all been loosened with a massage, Alphonse whispered in his
brother’s ear.  “I’m sorry I was hoping to tell you that I’d reached Roy for
your birthday.  I haven’t gotten through to him yet, but I did get through to
Amestris several times.  If I keep trying I’m sure to find him.”
          Ed tensed a bit as he always did at the mention of Roy.  “S’all right
Al.  We don’t have to go back to Amestris.  We can make a life here and when
you’re older you can have that wife and kids you want.  Just want you to be
happy,” he was almost asleep and the words came out a bit slurred.
          Al hugged him from behind.  “And I want you to be happy.  I’m going
to find him for you, Ed.”
          Because Ed was already asleep he didn’t see the look in Al’s eyes. 
It was eerily similar to the look Ed used to get when he was focused on getting
Alphonse’s body back.
                               April 1925, Paris
         Alphonse was finally physically 15 years old and had begun to see some
changes in his form.  He would always be more willowy than Ed, but he was
beginning to fill out some in his shoulders.  He’d talked Ed into running with
him occasionally both to help build his muscles and maintain Ed’s.  Running
almost always ended up with a shower since Ed had to run fully clothed with
gloves on.  He was always soaked with sweat by the time they got home.  There
had been several requests for Alphonse to join different sports at the
University, but he’d refused all of them.  It never hurt to be too cautious and
he wasn’t going to do anything that might make them have to run again.
          Other changes had been happening to Alphonse and while he had more
control over his body at night than when his overloaded hormones had surfaced,
he found himself having other problems now.  His body was craving more of a
connection with Ed.  He’d not said anything directly because he keenly felt the
line Ed constantly walked with their sexual encounters.  Alphonse did not want
to trigger the guilt-complex Ed carried, and so he’d found another solution.
          One of the other students had mentioned getting something fun for his
girlfriend.  Al casually enquired as to where the location of the shop was and
so he now found himself standing inside a Parisian shop which catered to sexual
escapades.  Costumes seemed to be in demand at the moment, but Al was able to
find what he was looking for relatively easily.  The older gentleman who took
his money looked flatly unimpressed, but threw in several condoms with his
purchase.
          That evening Alphonse took his time in the bath tub and when he was
ready to retire he went into the smaller bedroom.  Several minutes later Ed was
standing outside the door with a confused look.  “What are you doing, Al?  I
thought you were coming to bed…”
          Ed’s face went from confused to frowning.  Al was already getting
himself ready for the evening and had the supplies he thought he’d need in the
bed with him.  Conveniently under the sheets or so he thought until Ed walked
over and pulled the sheets back in that one spot.
          Alphonse’s face flushed bright red while Ed simply stared at the
dildo, jar of lubrication, and condoms.  “I…I…” Al could only stammer at the
incredulous look Ed was giving him.
          Shaking his head as if to clear it Ed sat down on the edge of the
bed.  “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it would be really great
if you could tell me.  And where the hell did you get all this?”
          Al gulped and tried to look anywhere other than where Ed was.  “One
of the guys in a class was getting something for his girlfriend and I asked him
where he went.  So I went there and got this…”
          Ed’s eyes were beginning to narrow.  “That explains where you got it,
but not why.  What the fuck is going on Alphonse?”
          Al looked down miserably.  “I didn’t want to ask you.  Because I know
you already feel like you’re cheating on Roy and…we do enough already.  So I
was just going to try this and maybe that will be enough.  My stupid body wants
more, but I don’t want you to feel guilty Ed.  So could you just let me try to
handle this on my own?”
          Ed rubbed at his forehead absently.  His eyes were a bit wider than
normal, but he met Al’s gaze head on.  “Are you trying to tell me that you got
a dildo because you want penetrative sex, but didn’t want to say anything to me
about it?”
          “Well yes.  Now if you could just close the door behind you…” Al’s
voice trailed off as he watched Ed get up and walk a bit dazed toward the
desk.  They’d ended up putting a desk back into the smaller room for Al to do
some of his projects on.  He leaned on it and seemed to get hold of himself
before turning back to Al.
          “Do you really think I’m going to be okay with you using a piece of
wood the first time you have actual sex?  It should at the very least be
something caring, Al.  Do you have any idea how I would have felt if I’d found
out about this later?”  Ed’s voice was hoarse and his eyes were a bit wild as
they met Alphonse’s, but he was perfectly serious.
          “But Ed.  I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this.  This
hasn’t been easy on either of us, but I think it’s harder on you.”  Al’s
fingers played nervously with the bedding he was sitting on. 
          Ed came back and sat on the bed.  He reached over and grasped Al’s
hand and threaded his fingers through it.  And showing the endless patience he
had for his younger brother waited until Alphonse met his gaze.
          “I’m not going to lie to you, Al.  Yeah, I was hoping this wasn’t
going to become an issue, but now that it has…we’ll deal with it.  Together. 
Now, come to bed.”
          Ed waited patiently as Alphonse gathered the supplies and then turned
to the other bedroom.  In the bed they shared Ed took the lubrication and the
condoms from Al, but set aside the dildo.  “Do me a favor Alphonse and tell me
what you’re thinking next time.  None of this is easy, but we can get through
it.”
          Al nodded wordlessly then lay down as Ed pushed on his chest. 
Sleeping nude meant never having to wrestle with clothing at times like this. 
For a few moments Ed simply lay down on top of Alphonse with his head on Al’s
chest and breathed in his scent.  Al absently began to run his fingers through
Ed’s hair and the tension left them both.  Ed’s auto-mail hand began to wander
over Al’s arm, leg, and ass.  Ed’s head and torso came up to lean against his
flesh arm as he simply touched Al. 
          He suspected it was because the sensations were in a way still new
because he’d been the armor for so long, but Alphonse was almost cat like in
the way he loved to be touched and stroked.  Ed had also learned that Al loved
the idea of a mouth on his skin.  Even if all he did was blow and sometimes
lick, Al couldn’t get enough of it.  While Al was distracted by the different
touches Ed grabbed the jar. 
          He coated three of his fingers (a first as it had always been two
before tonight) and slowly began to work Al’s anus open.  This type of sex play
wasn’t new to them anymore, but Ed had genuinely hoped to never go beyond it. 
He kept an eye on Alphonse as he began easing the third finger in.  If this was
too much anything else was going to be out of the question. 
          Alphonse hadn’t been kidding when he said his body wanted more. 
There was a bit of stretch, but overall the addition didn’t seem to bother Al. 
In fact he was moving against Ed’s fingers more than he usually did.  Ed
swallowed, but shook it off.  This was going to happen, then.
          Slowly he withdrew his fingers from Al and grabbed one of the
condoms.  “If we don’t use these one of us could get an infection, and I can’t
go to a doctor Al.”
          Edward took a deep breath and opened the package.  They’d never had
to use condoms before.  Blow jobs and jerking off didn’t require condoms, so
they’d never used them.  Edward made sure to put the condom on slowly as
Alphonse was watching intently.  The younger Elric may yet need to put one on
himself in the future.
          Once the condom was on Ed raised his eyes back to Al’s. “Hand me the
lube.”  Al watched silently as Ed coated his condom covered erection with
plenty of lubrication.  “Was there any particular way you wanted to do this?”
          Al shook his head no.  Ed bit his lip and frowned a bit.  “This
might…sting a bit.  I don’t want to hurt you…”
          Alphonse remembered thinking the dildo wasn’t as wide as his brother
and thought that was probably why Ed was worried about hurting him.  He sat up
and pulled Ed’s legs out from under him so he was sitting with his legs
crossed.  Ed’s eyes widened as he realized what Al was doing, but didn’t argue
as Al lifted himself so he was sitting on Ed’s lap. 
          “This way you can’t say you hurt me,” Alphonse said quietly as he put
his hand around Ed and lined himself up.  He put his head onto Ed’s shoulder
and began to slowly shimmy himself onto Ed.
          Alphonse concentrated on breathing and relaxing as he moved slowly
further down onto Ed.  Ed’s auto-mail hand was wearing a hole into the bedding
while the other was on Al’s back.  He was trying very hard not to move, but Al
felt his gasping breaths every time he moved further down.
          “Are you okay?” Al heard Ed gasp and he could only mumble a hmmm
against his shoulder because it was incredible.  He’d just met Ed’s hips and
while there had been a pinching feeling, it hadn’t hurt.  It’d been weird at
first but he felt stretched and so full, and in such a good way that words
weren’t possible.
          Sighing into Ed’s shoulder he began to rock slowly and felt more than
heard Ed’s groan.  Slowly he rocked and at some point Ed rocked back up into
him.  It was quiet and neither of them really said anything, but there were
gasps, moans, and shivers.  When Alphonse climaxed Ed gritted his teeth and
came inside him. 
          After they’d cleaned up and were lying in bed again, Ed rolled over
and met Al’s eyes.  “You might be sore in the morning.  There’s some
painkillers in the bathroom if you need them.”
          Al nodded drowsily.  “Ed?  Can you hold me tonight?”
          Ed gave a small smile and nodded.  “Roll over.”
          Ed pressed himself against Al’s back and closed his eyes.  Can we
ever go home after this?  Will we ever have normal lives again?  I have to be
what Al needs now, and I will.  I will always be whatever he needs, but oh
Roy.  Sometimes it hurts so much to think of what you would say to me.
Chapter End Notes
     Actually felt bad while writing this chapter cuz I hate seeing them
     hurt, but the story arc has to happen. If this continues the way I'm
     planning (it's been a very organic piece & has changed course on its
     own) it will have a happier ending.
     Edited the whole thing. Changed some things up and added a couple of
     lines. Working out the next chapter...still gonna be some angst
     there.
     Would love some feedback on this. Please don't flame, but do point
     out any typos or concerns with where the story is going.
***** Chapter 5 *****
Chapter Summary
     Alphonse confronts the Elric guilt-complex and Roy makes a decision.
Chapter Notes
     I had no idea that jumping all over the place in the timeline of this
     thing was going to be so hard to keep straight. Had to make myself an
     outline to keep up with time and place in each chapter. If anyone
     else is having trouble keeping the timeline intact I can add that
     outline to the end notes for this chapter.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
          Al had become a bit of an expert in predicting when Ed’s guilt-
complex was going to raise its head.  Each time their sex life had progressed
Ed would wrestle with his guilt and mostly would find a way to wrestle it back
into submission.  Going on two weeks since they’d had intercourse Ed’s guilt-
complex had practically begun to need a bedroom of its own. 
          Al had noticed it almost immediately and didn’t want to poke and prod
at it too early as that usually led to arguing.  He’d given Ed time to work
through his guilt, but he felt like two weeks was long enough for him to break
his silence.  Alphonse Elric was no stranger to the Elric guilt-complex – he
had his own to deal with.  But while his older brother would sit and stew in
his misery, Al had learned early on that the guilt didn’t accomplish anything. 
He’d adopted the notion that letting guilt drive you led to unhappiness while
learning and adapting from your mistakes led to better things.  Usually.  Their
current situation didn’t really fit into his more optimistic view.
          That afternoon after they’d walked home from the University Alphonse
volunteered to run down to the bakery and grab some sandwiches and stew.  Ed
readily agreed as it meant no cooking for him that evening.  Al’s ulterior
motive, of course, was that Ed always took uncomfortable conversations better
with good food.
          He returned with the food and began to sort it out into dishes.  Once
everything was ready he brought it over to the coffee table and set Ed’s in
front of him first.  With a mumbled “Thanks Al,” Edward Elric proceeded to
inhale the food.
          Al shot a small smile at Ed before sitting down with his own food. 
Ed was making happy noises around his sandwich as Al carefully unwrapped his
own sandwich.  Time to poke the elephant in the room.
          “Brother, I need to talk to you about something.  I’ve noticed you’ve
been very quiet lately and quite frankly you seem unhappy.  Did something
happen?”
          Ed almost choked on the mouthful of food he was chewing on.  Al
waited patiently for him to finish coughing and gulp some water down.  Warily
Ed met Al’s gaze and swallowed at the intent he saw there.
          “You’re really going to bring this up, aren’t you?”
          Al locked his eyes on Ed’s.  “Brother none of this is your fault. 
You’ve got to stop punishing yourself.”
          Which brought on the pre-requisite scowl and Ed’s response of “The
fuck?  Of course it’s my fault!  I was the one who tied our souls together in
the first place!  I was the one who tied you to that armor for years!”
          Al was already shaking his head before Ed had finished his rant.  “No
Ed.  We bothmade the decision to bring Mom back.  And if we hadn’t managed to
tie our souls together by accident I don’t think you would have been able to
bring me back at all.  You were able to save me because we were already
connected.  Without that connection I don’t think you’d have been able to seal
my soul to the armor.”
          Ed was staring at him with his mouth open.  “But all of what’s
happening now…it’s definitely my fault!”
          Al tilted his head enquiringly.  “How do you figure?”  He proceeded
to take another bite of his sandwich while Ed sputtered.
          “The hormone thing!  That’s definitely my fault cuz you wouldn’t be
having this problem if you’d had a body the first time around”
          Al cut him off with “Ed you’re pulling at strings now.  We both made
the decision to bring Mom back.  We both used our blood as a substitute for her
soul.  If you hadn’t thought quickly enough to tie my soul to that armor I
would have just been dead.  No first adolescence as armor and definitely no
second adolescence in flesh.  The fact that we’re drawn to each other for sex
now is not your fault.  It just happened.  And if you can’t let this go Brother
I’m going to get very angry with you.”
          Ed was gaping at Al in disbelief as his younger brother set his food
down.  He continued to sputter as Al got up and walked over to where he was
sitting.  He finally shut up when Al sat down next to him and pulled him into a
hug.  “It’s nobody’s fault, Ed.  Please stop blaming yourself.  If it bothers
you this much I’ll just jerk off all night so you don’t have to touch me
anymore.”
          Tentatively Ed’s arms came up to pull Al closer.  “No I don’t want
that.  It’s just that…I don’t know how to be your brother and have sex with
you, too.  It’s so confusing.  And I know you want to get us back to Amestris
for lots of reasons, but Al…I don’t think this is going to go away once we get
back.”
          Al sighed and nodded against Ed’s head.  “I know Brother.  I’ve felt
the connection tightening.  We’re going to have to learn how to deal with all
this, but you were the one who said we could do it together.  We can still do
this together, can’t we?”
          Ed was silent for so long Al was actually afraid.  He finally
answered “Yeah.  We’ll do it together.  I just don’t know how to go about it.”
          Al lifted his head and gave his brother’s forehead a kiss.  “We’ll
just have to do what we both feel comfortable with and what we don’t feel okay
with.  I don’t know if you won’t tell me, Ed,” he added quietly.
          Ed swallowed before meeting his gaze.  “You think I’m upset that we
had real sex, don’t you.”
          “Well you’ve pretty much been acting like you were, so…yeah.”
          Ed closed his eyes and swallowed hard before he could look at Al
again.  “I have been upset, but not for the reason you think.  I was upset
because I really enjoyed it and I thought I would feel like I was cheating on
Roy.  But…it didn’t feel wrong.  And that’s why I was upset.  Because it felt
like it was something I’d been missing.”
          Al breathed out in a rush.  “Okay.  Okay well I think we should take
it slow and not rush into anything else until we both feel ready for it.  It
felt pretty much the same for me as it did for you, but I don’t want to put you
through this every time we decide to try something new.”
          Ed was uncharacteristically quiet before answering softly “You still
want to go back to Amestris no matter what, don’t you?”
          Al nodded with determination.  “No matter what else happens I can’t
stand for you to have to hide here all the time.  And I won’t let you give up
on Roy before I can contact him, Brother.  He deserves the chance to choose
whether or not to be in our lives.”
          Ed looked away before answering “You really think things will work
out, don’t you?”
          “Of course I do!  We’ve always managed to pull through – why would
that be any different now?”
          Ed pulled his brother back into a hug.  “Love you, Al.”  They sat
quietly on the couch for a bit before Al got up to go finish his food.
                               June 1925, Paris
          Alphonse was practically bursting by the time he reached the
apartment.  He’d managed to contact Roy last night, but hadn’t woken Ed because
of the nightmare about Nina.  That was a common nightmare for both of them and
always ensured a restless night. 
          Al ran up the stairs and opened the door as quickly as he could.  As
soon as he’d shut and locked it behind him he began yelling for Ed.  Who had
just come out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and another
working to dry his hair.  The sight of Ed without clothing never failed to
affect Al now, and he swallowed before once again approaching Ed.
          Curious eyes peered at him from underneath the towel and Alphonse
couldn’t help the small smile.  “I found him last night, Ed.”
          The golden eyes frowned at him now as Ed finished drying his hair. 
“You found who, Al?”
          Al reached out and grasped at one of Ed’s hands so he’d quit messing
with the towel.  “I found Roy.  No, I didn’t tell him any of what’s happened
between us because I’d already spent too much time looking for him and was low
on energy.  But I found him.  And I can find him again and then, Brother we
will have an answer from him.”
          Ed’s eyes had gone huge as he finally understood what his sibling was
saying.  He blinked a couple of times before narrowing his eyes at Al.  “Why do
I think you’re going to make me help you research all this mythology and
whatnot you’ve been looking into now?”
          Al grinned cheekily at his brother.  “Because you know me far too
well.  I’ll go grab some food and we’ll hit the books later.”
          Ed stared somewhat moodily at the door once Al had passed through it
on his way down to the bakery.  Knowing Al wouldn’t be persuaded to give this
up until he heard from Roy what he was willing to accept, he turned to put on
some pajama pants and a tee shirt.
                              August 1925, Paris
          Al woke up from his ‘visit’ with Roy.  He blinked a few times before
attempting to move.  Once he felt centered and fully back in his body he turned
to look at Ed.  Who was snoring with a bit of drool hanging off his lip.  Al
snorted before moving to cuddle close to his sibling.
          He scooted down until his head was underneath Ed’s so he could nuzzle
up against his brother’s neck.  Breathing out warm air against his neck, Al
murmured Ed’s name softly.  Ed’s body moved into his before the former was
fully awake. 
          “Al…wha?” was all Alphonse was able to understand from whatever it
was that came out of Ed’s mouth.  He smiled and licked his way up toward Ed’s
ear, which had Ed squirming up against him.
          “Roy still wants you.  He figured it out before I gave him all the
information and he still wants you, Ed.  He loves you.”
          Ed stilled as his brain caught up with what was being said.  His
hands came up to cup Al’s face and bring it even with his own.  “What about
you?  Did he say anything at all about being able to deal with both of us?”
          Al frowned and looked away from his brother’s piercing gaze.  “Well
no.  He’d only just found out and he was upset Brother.  He read me a letter he
wrote to you…”
          Ed cut him off with a huff.  “Alphonse Elric, you need to let Roy
know that if he still wants me in his life he has to have you in it as well. 
You know very well we can’t live apart from each other anymore.  More than a
couple of days away from me and you can barely function from the pain.  I can
deal with it longer than you can, but we have to be honest with Roy.  After
that project when you had to spend the weekend at the University children’s
ward they wanted to hospitalize you because they couldn’t figure out why you
were in so much pain.  I’m not going to take any chances with your health, Al. 
If Roy can’t deal with both of us then we need to write him off.”
          Al looked solemnly into his brother’s eyes.  “You’ll never be able to
write him off, Ed.  But you’re right I need to let him know we can’t tolerate
physical distance anymore.”  Al ran a hand into Ed’s hair before saying
somewhat sadly “I thought you’d be happy to hear the news.”
          Ed ran a hand over Al’s hip and Al’s eyes widened as the hand
continued on down his thigh.  “It’s hard to be happy until I know he can accept
us both.  You really want to tell me about that letter he wrote, don’t you?”
          Al was having trouble answering with Ed’s hand rubbing up his inner
thigh, so he just nodded.  “Roll over then,”Ed said roughly.  He was already
reaching for the jar when Al rolled to place his back to Ed’s front. 
          “Leg up,” Ed breathed into Al’s ear as his fingers reached for his
brother’s anus.  Al whispered the conversation he’d had with Roy while Ed
fingered him open.  He whimpered when Ed moved away long enough to put on a
condom and more lube. 
          “Shh,” Ed whispered as he moved back up behind Al.  “You know I’d
never leave you like that.”
          Al pulled his leg up further so Ed could find the best angle.  They
both sighed once Ed was lined up pressing against him.  Al subtly moved his
hips wider as Ed began to guide himself in.  Al sighed as the head popped in
then moaned as Ed slowly worked his way in and soon they were moving against
each other.
          It had taken some trial and error before they’d found positions they
were both comfortable with.  Al loved to be taken from behind, but Ed wasn’t
comfortable with him in the doggy style position.  Al wasn’t quite brave enough
yet to top, but he loved having some control over the movements and Ed loved
looking at Al on top of him.  It was all about listening to each other’s bodies
and movements, and stopping immediately if one or the other looked
uncomfortable.  And although it had never been brought up, by tacit agreement
they had agreed that kissing bodies was fine, but kissing mouth to mouth was
just too much.  For Ed it was the one thing he had left that was just between
him and Roy.  And for Al, it was enough to know that his brother loved him,
accepted him just the way he was, and only wanted them both to be happy.
          Ed mouthed kisses against the back of Al’s neck as he moved inside
him.  He loved that Al enjoyed being taken from behind so much and that in this
position he could move slowly and not overpower his younger brother.  While Al
was the taller brother, Ed was definitely the more muscular of the two.
          Ed grabbed Al’s hand with his auto-mail hand and began moving Al’s
hand over his own cock.  He’d never touched Al intimately with the auto-mail in
fear of hurting him, but Al liked the idea of Ed’s auto-mail touching him while
he touched himself.  Compromise was a beautiful thing.
          “Both of us, Al.  We’re a package deal now,” Ed gasped into his
brother’s neck.  Al pressed back into him and made that noise he always made
right before he came.  Ed rocked into Al to help his orgasm along and finished
while Al’s ass muscles were still squeezing him.
          Once they both had their breath back Al rolled over to reset the
alarm clock.   Leave it to Brother to make us have to get up earlier because we
need to get clean.  His protective side comes out at the strangest times, but I
never mind losing a bit of sleep.
                               Central, Amestris
                                September, 1919
          In the month since Roy had discovered the man he loved was having a
sexual relationship with his sibling things had been prioritized in his mind. 
He’d gathered any and all books he could find on the alchemical theory of human
transmutation and souls.  He’d gone for long walks and actually made himself
think of living the rest of his life without Edward Elric in it.  He’d
contemplated what life would be like with both Edward and Alphonse as staples
in his life.  He’d even pondered if he could stand living in a home with the
both of them knowing they were sexually intimate.
          By the time Alphonse was able to reach out to him again Roy Mustang
had made some decisions.  And it was high time he let the Elric brothers know
what those were.
          Roy was slowly sipping on some of his highest quality whiskey when
the helmet’s eyes glowed red.  He’d been able to narrow down the visit based on
the last times Alphonse had appeared and was satisfied to see the appearance
within the window he’d made.
          Alphonse’s voice was perhaps a bit more hesitant than the last time. 
“Good evening Roy.”
          Roy took one last sip of his drink before setting it down and turning
to address the helmet.  “And to you, Alphonse.  I have some things that you and
Edward need to hear before you attempt to travel through the portal.”
          “I rather thought you might.  We’ve got a few things to tell you, but
please – tell me what you think now that you’ve had some time to work it out.”
          “I’m willing to have the both of you live with me for however long
you both need.  There would be one bedroom for you and we would let it be known
that Edward and I were in a relationship, so we would share the other bedroom. 
The particulars of the three of us living together would have to be worked out
in time, but it’s my hope we could come to some sort of arrangement that suits
all of us.”  Roy glanced down for a moment before meeting Alphonse’s glowing
red eyes.  “I tried to imagine what my life would be like without the two of
you in it and all I could see was the North again.  When Edward and I were
together before it was always with the understanding that you and he would
always be in each other’s lives.  Hell, there were times Edward felt like he
had to choose between spending time with me versus you, Alphonse.  So it’s only
the dynamic that’s changed now.  And I’m willing to work with both of you as
long as you’re willing to work with me.”
          Alphonse was silent for several moments after Roy’s statement.  When
he spoke again it sounded as if the armor was trying to choke back tears.  “We
have always been lucky to have you in our lives, Roy.  But I don’t think I ever
quite understood just how lucky until now.  Okay, here’s what you need to know
from our end.  First, we’ve recently discovered that we can’t be physically
separated for more than 36 hours without it becoming extremely painful for me. 
Ed can handle it for longer than I can, but it almost felt like my body was
trying to shut down the last time it happened.  He’s insisting you know this up
front, but it doesn’t sound like an issue based on what you said.  It’s the
physical proximity that’s the issue there, not a sexual issue.”
          Roy nodded his head as this corresponded with the very little he’d
been able to find in his alchemical research.  “No we can work around that. 
What else do I need to know?”
          “We’ve located a set of Neolithic stones in France that we can reach
in two days time by train.  This is the closest set of stones that may provide
a portal back to Amestris, so we’re focusing on them.  There is an old festival
that takes place the last day of October in this world when the veil between
the worlds is said to diminish.  We’re still not sure what that means exactly,
but it sounds like the best time to try and reach Amestris.  The mythology of
this world attributes the festival to a goddess of war and death as this is
also the time when the dead may be able to cross over.  It only happens on one
night and the magic is supposed to be concentrated at midnight.  So that’s what
we’re looking into.  I’ve never heard of this goddess, but it’s our best lead
so we’re going with it.”
          “It must be incredibly frustrating for you and Edward that alchemy
isn’t an option.”  Roy ran his hands over his eye & eye-patch as his body began
to feel the effects of the stress waiting for the visit had caused.
          “Yes it is.  But in Amestris many people thought alchemy was magic,
so we’re hoping that maybe in using this world’s magic we can open the portal
on our end.  Ed’s thinking we may not have to pay a toll if we use the natural
magical energy occurring during the festival.  I was finally able to get him to
start brainstorming after last time.”
          Roy gave a tired look toward the helmet.  “Very happy to have
encouraged Edward to help.  He can be entirely too stubborn for his own good.”
          Alphonse snorted.  “I think once we are all able to get past the
awkwardness of living together it’s going to prove a very good thing.  You’re
the only other person who Brother will listen to when he’s in a mood.  I’m
running low on energy, so I need to get back.  Shall we plan on having one last
talk before we attempt the portal?”
          “Absolutely.  Take care of yourself and your brother, Alphonse.  I
will do everything I can on my end to help the both of you adjust to life in
Amestris again.  We will just have to be very careful.”
          “Roy you of all people should know how well Brother and I can keep
secrets.  Please get some rest you look as if you need it.”
          The glow faded from the eyes and Roy let out the breath he’d been
holding.  It isn’t going to be easy, but we can do this.  They just have to get
back here first.  And I should really start looking into which transfers are
available because we can’t stay in Central.  We need to be somewhere the
attention is focused on something other than the military.  Perhaps I should
look into positions near Universities.
Chapter End Notes
     Working on the last chapter right now. It's a beast - already as long
     as the longest chapter & I've still got Al's last chat with Roy & the
     whole plot on how the boys actually get from Paris to Amestris still
     to go. Thanks so much for hanging in there and all the wonderful
     kudos. This was a story I really wrote just to get it out of my head
     (wouldn't let me concentrate on other things), but surprisingly
     enough I've been very happy with the way it's turned out. I hope the
     last chapter will due it justice!
***** Chapter 6 *****
Chapter Summary
     Edward comes to terms with how things are now and Alphonse has his
     own version of the Elric guilt complex. (The Elric guilt complex
     could really be a character all on its own -_-)
Chapter Notes
     After getting only 1/3 of the next bit done and realizing the last
     chapter was going to end up being almost 12K by itself, I decided to
     just change the format to nine chapters. (Thanks a lot, story that
     just won't leave me alone.) Hope you guys enjoy!
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                               Central, Amestris
                              September 20, 1919
          Roy had been covertly looking into available transfers.  Or so he
thought until Hawkeye let herself into his office with information on those
available transfers in her hand and a scowl on her face.  For a moment Roy
blinked at her while wondering furiously how he should play this.
          Hawkeye raised eyebrows at him before placing the paperwork on his
desk.  “Should I be readying the staff for a move, sir?”
          And Roy realized that he couldn’t ask them to follow him into this. 
His bid for the Fuhrership was long over and the deliberate decision he had
come to could not overflow onto his loyal staff.  Roy placed his elbows on the
desk while bringing his hands up to artfully cover half his face.  And silently
apologized to Hawkeye before speaking.
          “Major don’t you think it’s time you pursued your own command?  The
original plan for the Fuhrership has been finished for some time now.  I would
hate to see you follow me into an early retirement.”
          Hawkeye frowned openly at him.  “I don’t understand, sir.  I would
happily serve under you for the remainder of my career.”
          Roy gave a half-smile from behind his hands.  “I know you would,
Major.  But if you were to look into a transfer for a command where you could
gain some rank and experience, it wouldn’t be long before you’d be offered a
command of your own.  And we both know my command has only operated as well as
it has because you run the office, Major.”
          Riza was looking confused as he continued to push this.  “But sir, we
all…”
          “Yes I know.  But I’m thinking of taking a transfer into a smaller
military area to ease into my eventual retirement.  And I think every single
member of my staff should look into going with you, Major.  They all deserve to
move up in the ranks and it won’t happen if they follow me further.  Please
inform the staff that I will be leaving Central soon and I don’t expect any of
them to come with me.”
          Riza gazed at him with hurt eyes.  Roy gazed calmly back at her.  She
can never know.  None of them can, it has to be this way.  None of them will be
able to accept what the Elrics’ relationship is now.  And if we are discovered
at some point, this way I am the only person who could be prosecuted.
          “Yes sir, I’ll tell the office staff.  But I don’t agree with this.”
          “I know you don’t, Major.  But my career is ending and you still have
so much ahead of you.  I expect you to do great things with your command.”
          Hawkeye lowered and head.  “Yes sir.”  And slowly turned to walk out
of Roy’s office.  “I will of course be training someone to manage your office,
sir.”
          “Of course you will.  Thank you, Major Hawkeye.”
          “You’re welcome, General Mustang.”
                             Paris, September 1925
          Ed didn’t know when things had changed so blatantly in his own mind. 
When the sex had started with Al he’d done his best to keep it loving, because
he always wanted Al to feel loved.  But he hadn’t wanted it to feel like they
were in a relationship.  He’d never kissed Al and had held out as long as
possible on initiating anything that involved penetrative sex.  But.  It seemed
things had gotten very confused inside his head since the sex had become more. 
He was dreaming about both Roy and Al now.  And he didn’t know what the fuck to
do about it. 
          Sex with Alphonse was amazing for so many reasons.  His little
brother was wonderfully sensual and loved touching and being touched.  And he
never held back.  Sex with Alphonse was the most natural thing in the world,
and therefore confusing as all hell. 
          Before Al’s hormones had kicked in Ed had known he would do anything
for Al.  He loved him with a passion bordering on obsession.  Add the sex to
that and what he felt for his younger brother was eerily similar to the
feelings he had for Roy. 
          Unquestioningly Ed knew he was willing to die, bleed, do whatever was
necessary for either of them if it came to that.  He’d already placed himself
on another world to bring Al’s body back.  And he knew that if there had been
any way to save Roy from the wound that took his eye, he’d have done that,
too.  What he’d never expected and was uneasily beginning to ponder was how he
was going to be able to live with both of them feeling like this.  He knew just
how devious Roy Mustang could be and had no doubt that the older man would find
a way to make it seem normal on the outside.  He knew Alphonse was willing to
do anything to keep his brother happy and both of them healthy.  But Ed didn’t
know if he was going to be able to love them both in the way they deserved and
he was terrified one of them would end up getting hurt.  Because fucking up was
something Edward Elric was very good at.
          And so, even though he was actively participating in the research and
planning for the portal through to Amestris, Ed was still second guessing that
decision.  Until the day he came home to the apartment and Alphonse was sick.
          It was close to the end of September and they were making some final
adjustments to their plan for the portal.  Alphonse had been staying later at
the University to double and triple check some of the mythological connections,
and he came home one particularly nasty evening with a cough.
          Edward was concerned, but Alphonse brushed it off.  Until a couple of
evenings later when Ed came home and Al was wheezing on the couch barely able
to stand on his own.  Ed immediately panicked and bundled Al into as many
layers as possible before escorting him to the University’s hospital.  Where he
saw firsthand just how easily one of them could die from a basic illness on
this side of the Gate.
          The official diagnosis was bronchitis, but Ed was appalled to notice
not all of the attending medical staff was washing their hands between
patients.  He stationed himself at the entrance to Al’s room and insisted on
seeing anyone who wanted to touch his brother wash their hands first.  This was
such a basic rule of medicine in his world where auto-mail surgery could kill a
person if the instruments weren’t clean enough.
          And of course there was always the issue of Ed having to hide his
auto-mail from all of the medical staff.  It was the hardest thing that he’d
dealt with in years, and made it absolutely clear that if both of them were to
have a chance at long and healthy lives they hadto get back to Amestris.
          The University had been very understanding of his brother’s illness
and had given him time off from his courses until Alphonse was able to leave
the hospital.  Ed was so very relieved to get Al back into their apartment it
was a shock to realize they were now in October.  It was still early October,
but they had to have their plan finalized by the end of the month or they’d
have to wait another year to try for Amestris.
          During the next week while Alphonse slowly recovered and Edward
babied him to the point of Al whacking him upside the head, Ed poured himself
into the mythology Alphonse had been tackling.  The more he read, the more he
thought they had a real chance of getting home.  And if it meant Al’s health,
Ed was willing to face his uncertainties about a life with Roy and Alphonse in
it as they were now.  The shock of Alphonse taking ill so quickly had
prioritized things in Ed’s mind.  Before the fear and uncertainty of what might
happen were his biggest concerns.  Now the knowledge of Al possibly dying on
this side of the Gate had him completely focused on getting them home and
dealing with any consequences later.
          Al was still on orders to stay in the apartment when Ed went back to
work.  It was now October 6 and while Al was mobile he still tired quickly.  Ed
thought ironically that while Al’s hormonal issues seemed to have gone dormant
during the sickness he’d rather deal with a horny Al than watch his younger
sibling suffer.  And if he were honest with himself he’d missed the more
intimate parts of their new relationship.  Having Al back home and able to
sleep in the bed with him again was bliss.
          Ed woke in the night with a familiar feeling against his lower back. 
It was the first time since he’d found Al all but collapsed on the couch that
his brother’s body had been interested in anything but healing.  He rolled over
to see if Alphonse was awake and found a pair of barely open eyes meeting his. 
          “I don’t really need to, we can just go back to sleep.” Al spoke so
softly Ed had to strain to hear him.
          “It’s still a bit early to try anything too physical, why don’t you
let me take care of you, Al?”  Alphonse frowned in confusion as Edward gave him
a small kiss on the forehead.  “Roll over, okay?”
          Al rolled so his back was facing Ed’s front.  Ed took Al’s hand in
his auto-mail and began to slowly tug and squeeze Al’s hand on Al’s erection. 
Al’s breathing changed almost immediately.  He whined and Ed breathed just
behind his ear “More?” 
          Al nodded wordlessly and Ed moved their hands faster, holding Al’s
hand just a bit tighter with the auto-mail so Al would tighten his hold against
his flesh.  Ed closed his eyes and listened to the pleasured noises Al made as
together they brought him off. 
          “Brother don’t you…” Al began but Ed cut him off with a kiss placed
against the back of his shoulder.  “I’m fine, Al.  Is it okay if I hold you
tonight?”
          Al hummed a pleased ‘yes’ and barely stayed awake long enough for Ed
to clean them up.  Ed sighed into the back of his brother’s neck and relaxed. 
Finally starting to feel normal.  Still didn’t feel normal after he got back
from the hospital.  But now, it’s good.  It’s normal again.  I guess sex is the
new normal for us.
                            Paris, October 10, 1925
          Alphonse was almost back to his normal strength and Ed found himself
relaxing as finallyhe could quit worrying about a relapse.  Al had cooked
tonight and Ed made a big deal out of complementing all the food.  Al rolled
his eyes a bit, but took it all good-naturedly. 
          “The doctor said I could go back to classes tomorrow, Ed.  Even
though we’re leaving at the end of the month I think we should keep everything
looking as normal as we can, so I’ll be going.  We are still on the same page
about going home, right?”
          Ed finished the bit of roll he’d been chewing on.  “Yeah we’re going
home.  I’m still nervous about it, even after the last time you talked to Roy,
but we can’t stay here.  I can’t take the chance something could happen to you
because the medical field here is behind Amestris’.”
          Al directed a slightly sour look at his older sibling.  “So because
you’re worried about my health it’s okay, but the entire time I was worried
about your auto-mail getting discovered again you brushed it off.  That’s not
exactly fair, Brother.  And I don’t know why you’re so nervous about Roy.  The
two of you will be fine.  Everything will even itself out once we’re home.”
          Ed frowned slightly as he realized Al may have no idea what had been
making him so nervous about returning to Amestris.  And because the balance of
their new relationship was so delicate (he’d finally had to admit to himself
that they didhave the sort of relationship he’d been trying so hard not to get
into with his brother) Ed didn’t just blurt out what he was thinking.
          I wish I could tell you, Al.  But I don’t know if this thing is the
same for you.  And if it isn’t I don’t want you to feel bad – I never want you
to feel bad about wanting your own life.  But I guess I can ask about one
thing…
          “Have you thought at all about how you want things to be when we get
back?  I mean we have what we have here, but what do you want it to look like
after we’re there?”
          Alphonse frowned.  “I don’t want to be a burden, Brother.  You and
Roy need to work things out.  I am notgoing to get between the two of you.  It
may make things complicated, but there are other ways to deal with my
overactive hormones.  Maybe I can find a doctor to help me regulate them so
they’re more controllable.”
          Ed swallowed hard.  He cleared his throat because the first time he’d
tried to say anything back to that his voice refused to work.  “You aren’t
going on hormone therapy Alphonse.  It’s…we don’t know what it might doto you. 
Roy understood what he was getting himself into when he agreed to let both of
us live with him knowing what our situation here is.  I don’t know yet what
we’re gonna work out, but you are not gonna get in the way of me and Roy.  You
could neverget in the way.  He knows what you mean to me…”
          Edward had to break off and look away from his sibling, who was
giving him a strange look.  His breathing had changed to almost panicked and he
felt like he needed to get away.  Ed ran hand into his hair and pushed away
from the table.  “The food was great, Al.  I need a shower.”
          Alphonse let Edward retreat to the bathroom.  He felt slightly
stunned as he sat there and thought about Ed’s face while he was talking about
Roy dealing with the two of them.  And realized Ed saw them as he and Roy and
he and Alphonse.  As if he was involved with both of them.  As if his feelings
have become just as confused as mine. 
          Still trying to process all this, Al began to clean up the meal. 
There must be a reason Brother isn’t talking to me about this.  He keeps saying
what we have here, but he won’t say what that is. Why would he just leave it
like that?  And Alphonse remembered when they had touched themselves by
accident the first time and how he’s said he wanted a wife and kids.  Are we
not talking about this because Brother doesn’t want to take that away from me? 
Things are different now than they were then.  I don’t even know if I can have
enough of a normal life to entertain dating, let alone have children.  How can
I talk to him about this?
          When the idea hit him Alphonse was mostly finished cleaning up.  A
very small determined smile came over his face as he remembered something about
Edward and stress.  Making way out of the kitchen Al called toward their
bedroom “Brother would you like a massage tonight?”
===============================================================================
 
          Al smiled fondly at his brother as his finished up the massage.  Ed’s
skin was tinged slightly with color and the almond oil Al had rubbed into all
of his brother’s aching muscles.  Ed would plow through stressful situations,
but his body inevitably would tense up during and after such times.  And now
Brother is relaxed and will talk to me about this thing that’s happened with
us.  Roy isn’t the only one who knows how to get you to talk, Edward.
          Alphonse moved himself slightly backward so that he was sitting just
where Ed’s waist joined his buttocks.  Al was careful to sit so that Ed
wouldn’t feel his body’s interest in the wonderfully warm and relaxed body
underneath him.  LaterAlphonse thought at himself. 
          He lightly placed his hands on Ed’s mid-back and rubbed a bit more at
some stubborn muscles.  “Ed, can I ask you something?”  He made sure his voice
was soft to help keep Ed in the warm and hazy state he was in.
          “Yeah Al, you can ask me anything,” was the mumbled response.
          Thinking carefully Al quietly asked “Why do you say what we have here
instead of just saying we’re having sex now?”
          Ed’s voice was losing that sleepy quality, but he was still relaxed,
and Al kept slowly massaging anything on his back that gained tension. 
“Because I didn’t know how else to say it.  I told you it confuses me – the
having sex.  It’s not the society thing cuz we’re not really part of this
society we’re just drifting in it.  I didn’t know any other way to say it
because the only other person I’ve had sex with I was involved with.”
          Al thought about that.  And realized with a bit of a start that Ed
had used past tense.  “You said you didn’t know how else to say it.  Has
something changed?”
          Alphonse felt the breath Edward took.  It was deep and went through
his upper chest and into his stomach before Ed let it back out.  Al was
momentarily afraid he’d pushed too hard, but Ed finally answered.
          “When you got sick it was like part of me realized I was just over
thinking it.  The sex…it’s just part of who we are right now.  It’s part of
loving you, it’s just something that we can’t share with anyone else.  Except
Roy.  And we had to give him that choice because it wouldn’t have been fair not
to.  And I don’t know what’ll happen with the three of us once we get home, but
I’m gonna find a way to make it work.  I’m gonna be with Roy and I’m gonna be
what you need and that’s it.  I’ll always be there until you don’t need me
anymore, Al.”
          Alphonse felt the pressure of tears starting and took a few quick
breaths to keep them in.  If he started crying now this discussion was over and
he needed this not to be over yet.  He got off Ed’s back and lay down on the
bed next to him so they could see each other’s faces.  Then he lifted a hand to
cup Ed’s cheek.  “Ed I will always need you.  I hope that the sex becomes
something we choose instead of something you feel like you have to do, and I
hope that we both make the choices we want to make.  But I will never not need
you in my life.”
          Ed frowned.  “I don’t feel like I have to fuck you Al.  It was
awkward in the beginning, but I’ve never felt forced.  I’ve always tried
to…shit I only ever wanted it to be good for you.  No one should have to feel
like they need to seek out strangers for sex, and…dammit did you feel like you
were forcing me?”
          Al was having a harder time with the tears now, but he kept fighting
them off.  “Well wasn’t I?  That first time was hard on you, I know it was. 
And I don’t ever want it to be like that again, Brother.  I love you, I want
you to be happy, and…”
          Something in Ed’s head just had it.  He lifted both hands to hold
Al’s head so he couldn’t look away from his eyes.  “I have always loved the sex
with you Al.  That’s what bothered me.  You neverforced me.  The problem was
that I just loved it too damn much and didn’t understand how I could when I
loved Roy.  And I finally got it when you were in the hospital.  I love you
both.  It doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong.  But I don’t want you to feel
like you have to stay with us.  Once you’re older and you have a handle on the
hormones I want you to do what you’ve always wanted.  Don’t let my feelings
change what you need to do with your life.”
          Alphonse closed his eyes for a moment and breathed.  Ed brushed the
hair back off his face tenderly.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for all that to
come out, but you can’t really have thought you forced me?”
          Al blinked teary eyes and gave a ghost of a smile.  “Of course I did
Ed.  I’ve always known how you felt about Roy and when my body needed the sex…I
did feel like it was my fault.  And that I was making you.  And Ed, I don’t
really have plans for the future.  I just want us both to be happy.  That’s all
I want.”
          Ed moved one hand to Al’s shoulder and leaned close to rub his nose
against Al’s.  He breathed into his brother’s cheek “Then let’s just be happy
while we’re here and we’ll worry about Amestris once we get there, k?”
          Al didn’t say a word but nodded and pulled Ed closer for a tight
hug.  They lay like that for a bit, then Ed pulled back to give him a wicked
grin.  “How would you feel about giving your older brother a break tonight and
doing the topping for him?”
          Al blinked at the topic change before his own grin came out.  “You
really do enjoy the sex, don’t you?”
          “Yes I do.  And I don’t want to be the only one on top.  What do you
think?  If you don’t wanna then you can always ride me – I love having you on
top.”
          Al’s grin was turning predatory and Ed found himself getting more
than a little turned on.  “Why don’t you tell me what you have in mind, big
brother?”  Al’s tongue came out and licked up the shell of Ed’s ear.  Ed
shivered then told Al what he’d been thinking about.  “Yes, I think we can
definitely try that.  It sounds just like what we both need tonight.”
          Alphonse was no novice at fingering – Edward loved the combination of
getting blown and fingered.  But he’d never done it with the intention of
placing his own cock in Ed’s ass.  So he was a bit nervous, but looking up at
Ed’s relaxed body and warm loving eyes made it so much easier.
          Once Ed nodded that he was ready Al put a condom on for the first
time.  Ed watched and made sure he’d pulled the tip out a bit to catch the
semen and that Al had pulled it up as far as it would go so the condom slipping
off wasn’t an issue.  Then he’d rolled back over so his stomach was on the bed
and his head turned on the pillow.  Ed wrapped his arms around the pillow and
spread his legs for Al.  “Nice and easy,” he breathed softly.
          Alphonse swallowed before grasping his own cock.  He placed more lube
on it before gripping firmly and moving between Edward’s spread legs.  Slowly,
as carefully as he could while also being as excited as humanly possible, Al
pressed against Ed’s opening.  He gasped as the head of his cock pushed in and
very slowly began rocking his hips in. 
          It felt like nothing he’d ever experienced before.  Ed’s body was wet
from lube, warm and inviting, and stretched tight around him.  “Tell me,” he
heard Ed say quietly.  And knew instinctively what his brother wanted to hear.
          “It’s warm and tight, fucking amazing and I can’t believe I kept
putting this off.  Does it feel like this when you’re inside me?”
          “Every single time.” Ed breathed out.  Once Al was all the way in he
lay full out on top of his brother and placed his hands under Ed’s shoulders
just as he’d asked for.  Edward had wanted this to be slow and special, and in
this position Alphonse could take his time and not wear himself out.
          Al began to slowly rock his hips.  He slowly moved in and out of Ed,
all the while breathing kisses into the back of his neck.  Normally it was
Alphonse whimpering, but tonight Al had his brother whining underneath him.  It
was a very different feeling and Al made sure not to go too fast so it was good
for both of them.  Being the one giving than receiving was a new feeling and
made him hyper aware of Ed beneath him, moving his own ass back against Al’s
rocking hips.
          Al heard Ed’s voice, low and panting underneath him.  “Fuck, Al I’m
gonna…” Well.  Alphonse now knew why Edward almost always finished right after
he did.  Because when Ed’s ass started squeezing around his cock Al was done. 
Once his breath was somewhat resembling normal, Al pulled out and rolled to his
side to face Ed.  Who had the most blissed out look on his face in the
aftermath.
          “You really should have said earlier if you’d wanted me to do that so
much,” he quietly told his older brother.  Gold eyes blinked open at him before
the slightly breathless reply came.  “Al I’ve been hiding for months inside my
own head.  Couldn’t ask for what I didn’t know I wanted.”
          They watched each other in the new knowledge they’d gained this
night.  Nothing was certain, but they were both going to do what they could to
make the other happy.  It was all they could hope for, in the end.
Chapter End Notes
     I did attempt to research hospital conditions in Paris for the year
     1925. The most I was able to find in a google search was there were
     some hospitals infested with rats that year. I dunno how historically
     accurate the hand-washing thing is, but it worked for the story arc.
***** Chapter 7 *****
Chapter Summary
     Al visits Roy for the last time before they attempt the portal. Ed
     handles the financials so the brothers can leave Paris.
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                               Central, Amestris
                               October, 15 1919
          Roy had narrowed his transfer options down to two.  Both were near
very respectable universities with specialties in alchemy.  He was going to let
the brothers choose which location they’d rather be at.  Edward would more than
likely look for a teaching position while Alphonse would be pursuing an
educational degree of some sort.  Roy had enquired enough to know the
alchemical teaching positions came with a lab for the professor as well.
          It was evening and Roy was hoping Alphonse would visit tonight. 
Overall he couldn’t help his growing excitement at the thought of seeing both
of them in the flesh again.  Alphonse must have grown some since he’d last seen
him.  While they were all going to be coping with a rather awkward situation,
it was his hope that between the three of them they would find a way to make it
work to everyone’s benefit.
          Happily, the helmet gained its glowing presence and Roy had the
company he’d hoped for.  They briefly discussed the date of arrival, compared
today’s dates (Amestris was one day slower than Paris, so they’d have to
account for that), and Roy spoke of his plans to seek a position near a
university of their choice.
          Alphonse wasn’t quite sure what to make of Roy’s decision to leave
his command.  “But Roy, you’ve put so much work into that.”
          “Yes, but my priorities have changed Alphonse.  I’ve known for some
time that the Fuhrership wasn’t something I wanted anymore.  Having a peaceful
life with you and Edward is my priority now.  And I can still serve my country
for several years before considering retirement.”
          Alphonse thought about that.  “I guess.  Brother and I were talking
about how things have changed, too.  Since we have to have the physical
proximity now I suppose we’ll always be roommates of a sort.  But Roy, I don’t
want to get between you and Brother.  I talked to him about it, too, but he
said you knew what to expect.  I guess the problem is Idon’t know what to
expect.”
          Roy scratched his head as he thought about how to respond to that. 
“Alphonse I told you before that even though you were never with us, you were
always a part of the time Edward and I spent together.  I’m not entirely sure
how we’re going to work it out right now, either, but neither of us will ever
ask you to do something you’re uncomfortable with.  Edward loves both of us,
but he has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen in one person.  As long as we’re
all talking it will work itself out.”
          “What do you mean?  Brother loves you, but he doesn’t love me like
that.”
          Roy reminded himself that Alphonse had never dated or flirted
before.  Gently he pointed out “Alphonse you can’t possibly believe that Edward
doesn’t love you in a new way now.  Your relationship was so close before the
two of you became intimate there’s no way it couldn’t have grown.”
          Alphonse said nothing at first.  “But Brother is in love with you.  I
know he loves me, and I love him.  But.  Are we allowed to feel more than that
for each other?”      
          Roy realized this was something they probably hadn’t talked about. 
Edward was never one to really self-reflect unless his guilt complex raised its
head.  And Alphonse had nothing to base this on.  Of course he’d be confused. 
Carefully Roy said “I don’t think there’s really a precedent for this
Alphonse.  If the two of you love each other the way I love Edward then you
just do.  People can fall out of love with someone, but they can’t just change
their feelings because they want to.  And I would never hold it over either of
your heads.  This is something neither of you could have predicted nor prepared
for.”
          Meekly Alphonse asked “Do you really think we can find a way for all
of us to be happy together?”
          Roy pursed his lips and inhaled before answering that one.  “I think
we’re all going to have to work at it, and there may be times when it’s really
difficult.  But yes, if we’re all willing I think we can make it work.  And
finding happiness is a wonderful goal to strive for.  I’ll do all I can and try
to give the two of you as much privacy as possible if you can do the same for
Edward and I.”
          “All I want is for all of us to be safe and happy, Roy.  I really
hope that once I’m older and have more hormonal control I can step back out of
your lives a bit.  I don’t want to intrude.”
          “Alphonse you could never intrude.  You are an intrinsic part of your
brother’s life.  I’ve always known that and would never expect it to change. 
My hope is that you too, will find some happiness in all of this.”
          The helmet seemed to steady itself.  “Well, I guess the next time we
speak we’ll be on your side of the Gate.  It would mean a lot to Brother and me
if you could be there when we come through Roy.”
          Roy gave him a toothy grin.  “As if anyone could keep me away.  I
will have to inform the staff just in case there are any medical issues to deal
with.  Alphonse please be safe.  If anything happened to you or Edward I don’t
know what I’d do.”
          “We’ll be as safe as we can be.  Brother is just as determined to get
me back to Amestris as I am to get him back.  And I can’t wait to see Havoc and
Hawkeye and the others.  Until then, Roy.”
          The glow faded from the helmet and Roy thoughtfully rubbed his lip. 
Sixteen days give or take.  I wonder what Hawkeye will think of my transfer
request now.
                            Paris, October 26, 1925
         Monday evening of their last week in Paris and Edward was tired.  He’d
requested a personal week from the University and they’d granted it as he’d
never taken a single personal day since he’d begun.  Ed had spent the bulk of
the day at the bank and then in a lawyer’s office.  He’d withdrawn the money
they needed for their train tickets and motel room from the bank and from there
had grabbed some food before heading to the lawyer’s office. 
          The rest of the money he had in savings he was arranging to be
delivered to Nancy on November 30 provided they had made it through to
Amestris.  The lawyer had drawn up papers to legalize the whole deal, but as
long as Edward never graced this doorway again Nancy was going to find herself
much better off in a little over a month.  She had, after all, shown them
kindness when she needn’t have.  Nancy had also warned them of the best way to
escape quickly if necessary.  Edward and Alphonse would have no more use for
the funds and he was happy to help someone who could definitely use it.
          He and Al had agreed today was the last day Al would attend classes. 
They had tonight and two more days to mentally and emotionally prepare
themselves for their journey, and they both wanted that time to themselves. 
          Alphonse had purchased food from the bakery and was waiting on the
couch for Edward.  As Ed pushed the door shut behind him he shot Al a weary
grin.  “It’s all arranged.  Provided we never enter Paris again Nancy will get
all the money I had in savings.”
          Alphonse gave his brother a pleased look.  “Good.  I know you really
wanted to leave the rest of it to her.  Now come over here and eat – you look
exhausted Ed.”
          Edward took off his coat and draped it across the back of the couch
before plopping down next to Alphonse.  He ate his meal as Al continued going
over one of the many mythology tomes they were basing this entire trip on. 
“The words aren’t going to be any different, Al.”
          “I just want to make sure I’m not missing anything Brother.  If we
don’t get this right we’ll be here at least another year and I’m ready to be
home.”
          Ed finished wolfing his food down (he never really had learned to eat
slowly) and pressed reassuringly on Al’s knee.  “I know.  I’m ready to go home,
too.  But we’ve got it all read and re-read, Al.  You should take a break.” 
          He stood and stretched then casually leaned down to kiss Al’s cheek. 
Which was what they normally did, except Al had been turning to ask a question
and the kiss ended on the corner of his mouth.
          Al froze as Ed realized where his lips had landed.  Bent over was
beginning to feel awkward, but Edward didn’t move.  He’d felt the instant
tension and wanted to know what was going on.
          Moving his head back just a bit Ed gazed at Al’s startled face.  And
watched his younger brother’s lips part as his tongue came out to wet them. 
“Al?” He questioned softly.
          Alphonse cleared his throat and slightly shook his head.  “It’s
nothing.  You’re right I need to take a break.”  Al went to lean forward to put
the book on the nearby coffee table, but couldn’t without moving away from Ed.
          Who had narrowed his eyes at Alphonse and was watching him like a
hawk now.  “Alphonse what just happened?”
          “Nothing happened Brother.  Let’s just put the books up and we can do
something to relax…”  Alphonse’s voice stopped as Edward’s hand pressed down on
his shoulder.  The other was lifting Al’s chin so he had to meet Ed’s eyes.
          “Al do you want me to kiss you?”
          Alphonse’s eyes widened before switching to slightly panicked.  “No
we don’t do that.  We’ve never done that – you never wanted to do that.”
          Ed took a breath in through his nose and let it back out again
without letting go of Al’s chin.  “We haven’t done that because I wasn’t sure
how to and keep everything else straight.  But I know how to now.  And I’m
asking you if you want me to kiss you, Alphonse.”
          Al’s eyes were huge and he was having trouble answering.  Ed moved
his hand from Al’s chin to cup his face and the hand on his shoulder moved down
to curve around his hip.  “You’ve never been kissed, have you Alphonse?”
          Al managed to shake his head no.  Ed shifted and the next thing Al
knew Ed had his knees over Al’s legs and was effectively pinning him to the
couch with his body.  Edward nuzzled into Alphonse’s neck and got a whine of
need in reply.
          “I’ll get up right now if you tell me you don’t want this.  But your
body is telling me you do, and I wanna do this for you.  I’d love to kiss you
right now, Alphonse.  But only if you want me to.  I’ll never do anything you
don’t want.”
          Al closed his eyes and blindly turned, seeking Ed.  He felt his
brother’s hands cup his face and felt his breath against his mouth.  “Please
kiss me” Alphonse whispered.
          Ed’s lips closed the distance and very lightly, very gently his
brother kissed him.  Ed’s lips moved slowly and deliberately over his own. 
Alphonse parted his lips with a gasp and Ed gently ran his tongue across the
opening.  Al opened his lips further and Ed’s tongue brushed into his mouth,
gently teasing.
          Alphonse hadn’t known what to expect, but this was more intimate than
their first sexual encounters had been.  He reached hungry lips for more of Ed
– he just wanted.  His body was throbbing with so much and his heart was full
to bursting and his breath came out in a sob.  Ed’s flesh hand came up to
soothe underneath his shirt, and Al realized he was grinding himself into his
brother’s giving body. 
          “Shhh,” Ed soothed.  “I’m sorry Alphonse.  I didn’t know how much you
needed this.”  Ed’s mouth came back to his lips again and Alphonse got swept
into the hunger and need of kissing his brother again.  Ed gently nipped at the
corner of his mouth and before he knew quite what was happening, Ed’s tongue
was diving into his mouth again and Alphonse orgasmed in his clothes. 
          Al’s breath shuddered in and out while he tried to calm down after
such a fast release.  Ed kept him cuddled close and when his breathing was
calmer moved back slightly to meet his eyes again.  Once Edward was sure
Alphonse was looking at him, he raised a hand to move Al’s bangs off his sweaty
forehead.  “I love you Alphonse.”
          Alphonse closed his eyes and swallowed.  “Roy told me.  The last time
we talked he told me that we were different now.  The way we loved each other. 
And I asked him if we were allowed to do that.  He told me there was no
precedent for this and he’d never hold it against us.  And I’ve been so afraid,
Ed.  Because I know I love you more than I should.  I just don’t want to get in
the way when we get back.”
          Edward pulled Alphonse into a hug.  “You will never be in the way. 
Roy has always known I love you more than most people love their siblings.  I’m
still not sure how we’re going to work everything out, but I love both of you. 
And Roy loves you, just differently.  I don’t know if he’d ever want all three
of us together sexually, but I know he wants you in our lives.  The rest will
work itself out.”
          “Now let’s go get a shower.  Do you have any idea how worked up I am
after that?”
          Alphonse smiled softly.  “I’ll meet you there in a minute.”  Al sat
on the couch just wrapping his head around he and Ed finally saying it out
loud.  And kissing.  He still felt hazy from his orgasm, but was able to manage
standing and headed in the direction of the bedroom. 
          Al stripped and grabbed the lubrication and a condom just in case the
shower went where he thought it would.  He went into the bathroom and closed
the door behind him to keep it warm and steamy.
          Edward poked his head out of the shower and grinned at him.  “Come on
in the water’s just like you like it.”  Al always liked the shower a bit warmer
than Ed did.
          Alphonse stepped into the shower to see Edward just rinsing the soap
from his body.  Edward grabbed the washcloth and soap and gestured for Alphonse
to turn so he could get his back for him.  After thoroughly soaping his younger
brother up and rinsing him off, Ed pulled him into a soothing hug.
          Al sighed happily into Ed’s hair.  Ed rubbed his back and said
quietly “I’m really sorry Al.  I would have kissed you earlier if I’d known.”
          “And how could you have known?  I never said anything about it
because I thought it was just too much to ask of you.  I still can’t believe
you’re okay with kissing me now.”
          “Things changed when you got sick,” Ed admitted.  “I dunno why, but
I’d been putting you and Roy into two different categories.  Didn’t think I
could love both of you that way.  Found out I was wrong when it seemed like I
might have lost you.  The funny thing is Roy probably knew that before I did,
the damn bastard.”
          “Well he did figure out we were having sex without me telling him. 
He knows how you think, Brother.  I can’t wait for you to see him again.”
          Edward pulled back to look up slightly into Alphonse’s face.  His
younger brother was almost three inches taller than him now and still growing. 
“When we do get back you better not put yourself last, Al.  Roy gets that we’re
gonna need time to ourselves, and you better not try to be all noble and not
take advantage of that.  Your needs matter, too.”
          Alphonse blushed a little thinking of Roy saying something very
similar.  “How do you both know to say that?”
          Ed grinned at him.  “Because we both love you, you idiot.  Now
c’mere.  I wanna kiss you again.”
           The kissing led to other things, which surprised neither of them. 
What was a bit of a surprise to Alphonse was that Edward wanted Al facing him
during the sex.  Before in the shower they’d always faced away from each
other.  But now it seemed like Ed couldn’t stand to not kiss Al, and who was Al
to argue with that?
          It had taken some coordinated effort, but Ed had kept Al balanced on
the shower wall with his auto-mail hand under his ass and Al had wrapped his
legs around Ed’s waist.  Edward discovered what it felt like to kiss Alphonse
as he came inside of him.  And decided it was probably the best thing he’d ever
felt with his little brother.  Alphonse was so relaxed after having his second
release that Ed was almost afraid he’d fall.  So he just stepped closer and
wrapped his arms around him until Al could properly feel his legs again. 
          They decided to spend the rest of the evening in bed talking,
researching, and kissing.
Chapter End Notes
     Still two chapters to go. I'm feeling less angst in the story now,
     and really hope it stays that way. Looked up a calendar for 1925 to
     get the last few days correct - ironically October 31 was a full moon
     that year which completely plays into the mythological aspect of
     this.
***** Chapter 8 *****
Chapter Summary
     Saying goodbye to Paris.
Chapter Notes
     Relatively soon is relative, apparently. Working the last chapter
     now. Having some unexpected issues with it (boys want sex, I want
     plot, go figure), but it's coming along. May end up reorganizing
     chapter 8 a bit because it's looking like bits of Chapter 9 might fit
     better with it. Also, I added a dubious consent tag to the story
     after rereading again and realizing at least two of the smutty scenes
     could be considered dub con. Those two scenes prove to be consented
     upon, but at a later date when the boys do the talking thing.
     So....thanks again for hanging in there with this thing.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                            Paris, October 27, 1925
          Alphonse woke with a morning erection and a smile remembering how
they’d talked last night.  The kissing seemed to have unlocked their ability to
accept the changes between them.  Between talking about those changes they’d
also managed some research.  They’d gone over every piece of the mythology of
Samhain they could think of. 
Alphonse had mentioned the moon would be full this year, which could only help
their efforts.  The particular goddess associated with Samhain, also known as
All Hallow’s Eve, wasn’t well known in France so it had been difficult to get a
great deal of information on her.  The Morrigan as she was known, was a goddess
of war and death and Samhain was the last harvest festival before winter hit. 
It was also the one time a year when the spirits of the dead could choose to
cross over and visit the living.  Alphonse was counting on this being related
somehow to the Gate as the spirits of Amestris passed into the Gate.
          Edward was mumbling on his side next to him with what Alphonse
thought at first were the ramblings of a nightmare.  Until he noticed Ed’s body
was showing a different sort of arousal.  Eyebrows raised he paid attention to
what Ed was mumbling.  And was startled to find Edward was dreaming of both
Alphonse and Roy. 
          Al ran a soothing hand down Ed’s back while he thought about that. 
He really wasn’t sure if he could think of Roy that way – the last time he’d
seen the man he’d been in a thirteen year old body that had no interest in
sex.  Then again, he’d never really thought of Edward’s body in that way
either.  And now he loved the sight of Ed’s naked body.  He’d accepted that it
might be a very long time before he was ready to pursue any relationship beyond
the one they already had.  Alphonse couldn’t imagine loving anyone else the way
he loved Edward.
          Ed rolled onto his back and Al pushed the sheets off him to take in
his brother’s flushed and aroused body.  Their policy had always been to help
ease the other’s erection if one of them were having a dream like this.  But Al
found he didn’t want Ed to get off while he was asleep.  He wanted his
brother’s eyes on him and fully awake when he finished.
          Al grabbed lube and a condom before returning his attention to Ed’s
hungry body.  Ed’s hips rolled on the bed and he moaned which made Al extremely
curious as to what exactly was going on in that dream.  He ran a finger lightly
down the length of Ed’s flesh leg and watched the toes curl. 
          The end of Ed’s cock glistened with pre-cum as he moved restlessly
against the sheets.  Al licked his lips a bit and opened the jar of lube to
slick up his fingers.  He’d found over the last year or so that fellatio was
one of his favorite sexual activities.  Something to do with licking, filling
his mouth up, and the smell of Ed’s sex just did it for him.  Ed had woken
numerous times to find Al’s mouth around his cock just as he was getting off
and he never seemed to have a problem with it.
          Al lightly danced his fingers around the base of Ed’s erection which
had the desired effect of Ed pulling his legs back.  There was much more room
for Alphonse to settle himself down next to his brother’s leaking cock now and
he took advantage of it.  As Alphonse began nosing at Edward’s dick he also
placed a hand down to reach Ed’s anus. 
          Slowly Al began to investigate Ed’s cock, first with his nose, then
pressing dry kisses along it, and finally getting his tongue involved.  His
other hand was pressing circles around the opening to Ed’s ass.  Taking his
time like this would give Ed a very strong orgasm and hopefully have Edward
awake when it happened.
          Alphonse licked all the way up to the tip and swiped the glistening
stuff off the end.  Ed moaned and pushed up against him, head turning on the
pillow and mouth open.  Smiling just a bit Al continued to lick and suck from
the tip back to the base while pressing just his thumb into Ed’s ass.  In his
sleep Ed offered his body readily, spreading his legs further and arching his
hips. 
          Getting tired of teasing, Alphonse opened his mouth and began to
slowly take Ed’s cock into his lips.  His thumb gently moved around the inside
of Ed’s opening several times before he pulled it out and inserted his middle
finger.  Ed was beginning to wake up now, Al could feel the change in his
breathing.
          Ed’s flesh hand came down to pull Al’s bangs up and caress his face. 
“You were dreaming,” Al informed him when he pulled off to get a breath.  “You
said both my name and Roy’s and I just couldn’t wait until you were awake.”
          Ed’s pupils were blown and his voice was much lower than it normally
would be.  He rasped out “I remember.  Roy was inside me and I was blowing
you.  Woke up with you sucking on me, holy fuck Al.”
                   Al raised brows at him.  “You’ve worked me through a wet
dream plenty of times.  But I really wanted to know what you were dreaming and
I wanted you awake when you finished.  So I just took my time.  Are you
complaining?”  Al inserted his index finger along with his middle and began
moving them both inside Ed’s anus.  Ed closed his eyes and whimpered.  He
licked his lips before whispering “Please stop teasing me.  I’m so hard I feel
like I’m gonna explode.”
          Al laid a kiss on the inside of Ed’s thigh.  “Do you want to finish
in my mouth?”  Ed groaned and nodded weakly.  Alphonse took his brother’s cock
back into his mouth and was unsurprised to find it really didn’t take much. 
Edward had been pretty far gone before Alphonse started touching him, so just a
bit was more than enough.
          Al pulled off enough so just the tip was behind his lips.  While he
loved fellatio the semen was difficult to swallow.  He’d found just holding the
tip made it much easier, and less tended to escape his mouth.  Ed’s dazed eyes
met his satisfied ones.  Al pulled completely off and licked the outsides of
his lips before crawling up Ed’s body.
          “C’mere,” Ed breathed just before grabbing him in for a kiss.  Ed
startled a bit tasting his own semen on Al’s mouth, but that didn’t seem to be
a problem.  “You missed a bit,” he said quietly before running his own tongue
on the outside of Al’s mouth to clean him up. 
          “Well that was a helluva wake up.  What brought that on?”
          “It was the dream you were having.  Just couldn’t resist after
that.”  Al rolled his hips against Ed’s side.  He’d gained more control and no
longer finished just from blowing Ed.  Ed’s eyebrows raised and he smiled.  “I
see you were very interested.  How would you like me to take care of that for
you?”
          Al played with Ed’s hair a bit as he thought about it.  He sent a shy
look up to Ed before asking.  “Could you, I mean, you love it when I ride you. 
Do you think we could try it the other way?”
          “Yeah Al, I think we can do that.”
===============================================================================
 
          It was a nice afternoon so they went out for a walk around one of the
nearby parks.  Although there had been ample opportunity they never got the cat
Al had always wanted.  Every time Edward had suggested it Alphonse would say he
couldn’t take on a cat knowing they were going back through the Gate.  While
thinking of this Ed asked Al if he’d thought at all about getting a cat once
they were back.
          A small smile gathered on Al’s face.  “I’d really like that Brother. 
But don’t we need to see if Roy would be okay with that, too?”
          “Yeah I guess we do.  This whole living together thing…it’s gonna
take some getting used to, huh?”
          “Well yes, but you spent a lot of time with him before and you got
along well, didn’t you?”
          They’d spotted a park bench and headed toward it.  Ed snorted as he
sat down.  “You know, Roy and I bitched at each other a lot over little
things.  He couldn’t stand that I didn’t pick up my socks and I hated that he
didn’t like me taking books to bed.  But we worked through it.  Once we’re all
settled I’ll bring up the cat subject.  It’d be really great for you to finally
be able to have one Al.”
          Alphonse blushed self-consciously as he remembered being armor and
getting so upset when Edward wouldn’t let him keep the kitty he’d found. 
“Getting a kitty would be amazing, but not until we’re ready for it.  Is there
anything you’re going to miss here?”
          Ed scratched the back of his head as he thought about it.  “I think
the only thing I’ll really miss is the bakery.  Their food is great – maybe we
can find a place like it back in Amestris.”
          Alphonse looked around like he was trying to take a mental picture. 
“Roy said he was going to get a transfer so we could be near a university.  I
will miss the art museums here, there seem to be more than in Amestris.  But
it’s nice to know we’ll be near a university that specializes in alchemy.”
          Edward smiled softly, turning his head to look at his brother.  “Roy
always did look out for us.  Both of us.  I’m really glad you’re gonna get to
see him outside of the office, Al.  There’s so much more to him than he shows
behind his desk.”
          “Ed….do you ever wonder what Mom would think of all this?”
          Ed pulled in a shocked breath then concentrated on relaxing again. 
And made himself think about the question.  Would their mother have been able
to accept even half of what had happened?  She’d fallen in love with Hohenheim,
a man who had lived for hundreds of years after producing a philosopher’s
stone.  She’d known his body was decaying, and loved him nonetheless.  She’d
had children with him then watched him walk away and never loved him any less.
          His mother had been the most loving and understanding person Edward
had ever known.  While she may never have approved of what her boys had done,
he had trouble believing she wouldn’t have still loved them.  He accepted that
she might have been horrified to find her sons were having sex with each other,
but also knew just how big her heart was.
          And so he said to Alphonse “Mom never stopped loving Hohenheim.  Even
when he gave her reason to.  I don’t know exactly what she would have thought
about everything we’ve been through, but I do know she never would have stopped
loving us.”
          He stood up and brushed his slacks off.  “Come on let’s walk over to
one of those art museums you like so much.  Won’t get to see much of that after
we’re home.”
          Alphonse stood and walked with Edward, content with the idea of
spending a day with his brother amongst the paintings and statues he loved.
                            Paris, October 29, 1925
          They’d boarded the train to Rennes at 10:00 that morning and were now
on their way.  The trip was slated to take five hours give or take and Al
glanced fondly down at his sleeping sibling.  They’d only been on the train for
an hour when Ed had begun to yawn and blink sleepily.  He’d fallen asleep
shortly afterward much to Al’s amusement. 
          The last time the two of them had been on a train together they’d
still been in Amestris and Alphonse had been the armor.  It was strange to
think of how their souls had been entwined at the time because things were so
very different now that Al had a human body again.  He had to wonder if they
had managed to stay in Amestris if the sex could have been avoided.
They certainly would have had more resources to draw from if that had been the
case.  As it was stuck on this side of the Gate they’d had only each other and
Al knew Ed would have killed anyone else if they’d attempted to touch him that
way.
          He and Roy hadn’t talked specifics yet, but Al suspected both of them
would come up with a schedule of sorts in the beginning.  It would drive Ed
crazy because Ed loved both of them and would just want the three of them to
work it out.  But Al knew his own needs well enough to know he’d need some
privacy in the beginning to deal with Ed’s time alone with Roy.  And he
suspected Roy was thinking along very similar lines.   Alphonse and Roy had
both become excellent at interpreting minute expressions on other peoples’
faces.  He and Roy understood each other on a level Ed may never really reach. 
It would take some very delicate balancing to keep Ed from feeling pulled
between the two of them, but Al knew Roy was a master at prioritizing.  They
would find a way to work everything out, but Al wouldn’t be surprised if his
brother wasn’t too keen on things in the beginning.
          Alphonse smiled softly as he remembered yesterday.  It was a day
neither of them would ever mention to another person because it had been their
day.  He was still sore from the sex, and he imagined Ed was too, but it had
been so worth it.  Their last night and day in the safe haven that had been
their home with no one else to judge or question them.  It had been beautiful.
          The train pulled up into the Rennes station at 4:00 pm and the
brothers made their way to the inn Ed had made reservations at.  When they
checked in the lady at the front was very apologetic, but confessed to only
having rooms with one double bed left.  Ed assured her it wouldn’t be a problem
and Al snorted in his head.  Brother always does manage to get what he wants. 
He’d worried about how much rest the two of them would get in a twin bed, and
now we’re suddenly granted the double.  Tonight will be much more comfortable
than we’d imagined.
          They went up to the room long enough to toss their bags on the bed
before heading out for food.  Once a restaurant had been located and food had
been consumed the two made their way to a store the waitress had recommended. 
They were able to purchase two quality sleeping bags and a small lamp for
camping before heading back to the inn.
          With the addition of the sleeping bags they were only lacking
tomorrow’s purchase of a car to complete their trip to Carnac, which would be
their final stop on this side of the Gate.  The Carnac Stones were the closest
set of standing stones and should work well for what they’d planned. 
          As they readied for bed, Edward held out his hand to Alphonse. 
“Shower with me?” he murmured.  With a small smile Alphonse took the offered
hand and walked with Edward into the bathroom.  They each took their own
clothes off as the water heated and then stepped into the shower. 
          Ed pulled Al into a hug and stood with his head on Al’s shoulder for
several minutes.  He looked up into his younger brother’s eyes before moving to
kiss him.  Kissing had become Alphonse’s favorite thing to do sexually and they
spent most of the shower perfecting it.  Al remembered they hadn’t washed and
quickly grabbed the soap and washcloth to perform the necessary task.  He was a
bit concerned that Ed was being so quiet, but when he asked about it the reply
was “I just want to savor this.  The rest of this trip back is just about you
and me, Al.  I always want you to be able to look back on this and be happy.”
          Alphonse swallowed before pulling Edward’s face around so he could
see into his sibling’s eyes.  “I love you, Ed.”  Al leaned down and kissed Ed
while Ed’s arms came up around him to keep him close.  He stepped back just
enough to reach between the two of them and grab their very interested sex. 
Slowly Al worked them through an orgasm as they kissed until the water ran
cool.
          In the bed curled around each other Al whispered “What do you think
the goddess will be like Brother?”
          Ed blinked and frowned.  “What do you mean?  We’re not gonna actually
meet her, we’re just gonna use the idea of her energy to open the portal. 
Besides, why would you want to meet a goddess?”
          Al made a face at the back of Ed’s head.  Sometimes you drive me
crazy Brother.  I was hoping maybe she could tell us something about Mom and
Dad since she’s a death goddess.  Or about life as a god.  Having human form
but not having the actual rules of human society would be fascinating to hear
from her.
          Alphonse curled himself around Edward again and kissed the back of
his neck.  “Goodnight Brother.”
===============================================================================
 
The car purchase and subsequent three hour trip from Rennes to Carnac had gone
uneventfully.  About halfway there they’d stopped to eat the meal they’d
purchased for lunch before leaving Rennes.  The nerves were beginning to wear
on both brothers, but Edward’s tells were always more obvious than Alphonse’s. 
Al could see the tension in Ed’s shoulders while he drove the last of the
trip.  He reached over and grabbed Ed’s auto-mail hand to give it a squeeze
while giving Ed a small smile.  Which in turn got him a smile back and easing
of shoulder muscles momentarily. 
          As planned once they reached Carnac they drove to the stones.  The
car had to be left on side of the road as they walked the rest of the way into
the Carnac Stones.  Al thought the area had a different feel to it, but Ed
scoffed at the idea the land containing the stones might be any different. 
They found a secluded area approximately half a mile away from the stones for
their sleeping area, but neglected to set anything up yet.  Now was the time to
head into the town proper for any last minute items they may need.  And food,
of course.
          The errands took them a couple of hours and this time as they
approached the stones the found a spot to leave the car in case they needed it
the following day.  Sleeping bags, lamp, and their other meager belongings came
out with them to the area they’d scouted earlier in the day.  Ed combined the
two sleeping bags into one big one for the comfort of sleeping next to each
other.  Both knew they were far too anxious for anything but sleep, but both
also wanted the comfort of the other.
          “You really haven’t thought about the goddess at all?  There are so
many things we could ask her Brother.”
          Ed gave Al a small smile from over the lamp light.  “Gods are thought
processes humans use to comfort themselves with.  They’re an explanation for
things that can’t be easily explained.  I gave up on any belief in Gods after
Mom died, Al.  But by all means if you have some questions to ask I won’t stop
you.”
          Al frowned a bit.  “I don’t know if Gods are real or not, but maybe
just the belief in her was real enough to give her an existence of sorts.  And
I amcurious what that would be like.  So I will ask my questions if she shows,
but mostly I just want us to get home safely.”
          Ed got up and came around to sit down beside Al.  “Getting home
safely is absolutely the most important thing.  C’mon and put out that lamp,
Al.  We need as much sleep as we can get.”
          The lamp was doused and shoes were taken off.  Al slithered into the
sleeping bag with Ed and tried to take some calming breaths.  And was somewhat
surprised when Ed turned over and then gestured with his hands for Al to roll
over as well.  Ed was now spooning Al and nuzzled into the back of his younger
brother’s neck.  Inexplicably Alphonse began to relax at the feel of his older
brother’s breathing against the back of his neck.  “Go t’sleep Al.  If your
goddess is real you’ll see her tomorrow,” Ed murmured.
          Al pulled Ed’s arm tighter around him and closed his eyes.  Tomorrow
night, Brother.  You will see Roy again and I just may get to speak to a
Goddess.  And we won’t have to live in fear of your auto-mail being discovered
anymore.  Just one more night and we’ll be home.
Chapter End Notes
     One chapter left! Having the brothers take a train from Paris to
     Rennes was a nod to the many, many train trips they took in Amestris.
     Since the snow storms are hopefully all done and my technology crisis
     is over for the most part I'm hoping to get the final chapter
     completed relatively soon. Please do let me know if there are any
     obvious typos.
     So....I was just reviewing this since I'm working on Part 3 now and
     realized the last part of Chapter 8 never got added. -_- So VERY
     sorry about that. Hope this makes up for it since there's no break
     between the last two chapters now
***** Chapter 9 *****
Chapter Summary
     Meeting gods isn't quite what the Elric brothers thought it would be.
Chapter Notes
     Holy freaking long chapter! Thanks so much to those of you who stuck
     around for the end of this. It's the longest thing I've written so
     far and I've left it open just in case a sequel decides to be born.
     First things first I added a bit to the end of chapter 8 so you may
     want to go back and give that a look before you plunge into this.
     Also, due to the recent issue with Ebook tree (yes I had a piece that
     was stolen and uploaded to the site) I've added the privacy setting
     to all of my works here so that only registered users can access
     them. Please do pass the word on to any friends who may have been
     viewing Another Time as a guest as they won't be able to access it
     now.
     Nothing in this story is going to be terribly accurate in a
     historical sense. I've done basic research, but nothing in depth so
     keep that in mind. With that said please enjoy the final chapter :-)
See the end of the chapter for more notes
                       Carnac, France, October 31, 1925
          Sleep had been restless, but they both woke to the warmth of the sun
on their faces.  Edward was able to return the favor Alphonse had performed for
him a few mornings ago, then took care of himself and cleaned up with some of
the ever present cloths he managed to have.  They’d not spoken of it, but both
knew intimacy between them would be nearly impossible the first few days after
their return to Amestris.  Anything they indulged in now would be savored
because they really had no idea what was going to happen once they crossed the
Gate again.
          When ready the two got up and cleaned up a bit with some water in a
bowl and put fresh clothing on.  The walked over to the stones again to see
where it would be best to set up the alchemical circle they’d designed for this
crossing.  Alphonse walked the area of the stones twice before declaring what
he thought was the perfect spot for their circle.  He didn’t tell Ed the area
felt more powerful to him, but Ed was fine with the spot as it fit his size
requirement for the circle.  With that decision out of the way they went back
to their camp for breakfast. 
          Munching on some bread, cheese, and fruit they’d acquired the night
before the two swallowed it all down with water.  Alphonse still thought it
hilarious how much Edward despised milk, but for the purposes of this meal milk
wouldn’t have worked anyway. 
          Once the meal was done Alphonse brought out the small pocket knife
he’d purchased and began whittling a stick he wanted to use for drawing the
circle.  Edward had snorted at first, but upon realizing his preferred chalk
wouldn’t work in the dirt the stones were surrounded with, he’d also chosen a
stick and was working on it with his own knife.
          Once the sticks were completed to their satisfaction the brothers
drew a practice circle not far from their camp.  It took approximately five
minutes for them to draw the circle, so they planned to draw the actual circle
at 11:30 pm so it would be ready when midnight arrived.  Even though Edward
snorted at the idea of magical energy, the entire premise of this attempt
centered on the mythology of the Celtic goddess The Morrigan.  And all of the
books they’d found recommended working with this goddess’ energy at midnight. 
So midnight it would be even if Edward thought the time was ridiculous.
          They stood back together to admire the circle they’d created.  The
circle represented the alchemical premise Izumi had taught them:  one is all
and all is one.  Inside the circle was a triangle to symbolize the stages of
alchemy; magical symbols for the elements of earth, air, fire, and water; and a
triskele with many spirals to appeal to the Celtic goddess.  The triangle
represented understanding the composition of matter, deconstruction, and
reconstruction.  There were also alchemical symbols for passing through
doorways engraved around the triangle.  It was a representation of both the
alchemy they were familiar with and the magic they knew next to nothing about.
          Quickly they walked around the circle and dismantled the drawing with
their shoes in case anyone were to walk by and see it.  While using
mythological magic was their way through the Gate, the people of this time
would be terrified by the symbols they’d just drawn.  Magical symbols in this
day and age weren’t something the brothers wanted any random person to see.
          They tidied up their meager camp before heading off to the car and
their last trip into the small town of Carnes.  A hot meal awaited them, along
with plans to purchase another meal for that evening which could be eaten at
the Stones.  This would be the last time their newly purchased car would be
used, so they enjoyed a leisurely drive around the area before heading into the
town proper.
          When Ed and Al returned from their lunch in town there were a few
local people wandering around the Stones.  They’d expected this and smiled
while they walked through to where they’d left their camp.  Thankfully nothing
had been disturbed and the brothers decided to take a nap in the warm afternoon
sun.  Ed and Al each lay in their own sleeping bag just in case anyone were to
walk past, but side by side.  This was the last time they’d have to get any
real rest, and they had nothing else to do until late that evening.  The two
lay whispering to each other until they were both able to doze off.
          When they woke the sun was beginning to set so Edward set the lamp up
for use.  Alphonse did another quick walk through of the Stones, waving at the
last couple of locals who were still there.  It was customary for those who
visited the stones to leave by nightfall and they posed no threat to the
brothers’ plans.  Once he was certain of just how many people were left Al
called over to Ed.
          “Brother come sit with me.  The sun is going to set and the view will
be spectacular.”
          Ed walked over with a smile and also waved at the few remaining
locals who were slowly making their way home up the dirt road.  He sat down
with a sigh and looked up into the dusk sky.
          “You’re right, Al.  This is really something.  We’ve got hours yet
before we can get the circle ready.  Did you have anything you wanna do?”
          Alphonse turned his head to watch the last person walking up the road
away from them.  Once they were out of his line of sight he turned back to Ed
with a slightly assessing look.  “Exactly what supplies did you bring with us,
Brother?  There are definitely things I want to do, but it might prove more
difficult out here.”
          Ed’s mouth dropped open slightly.  “Are you serious?  I don’t
remember being thathorny at fifteen.  You really wanna spend the rest of the
evening having sex Al?”
          The look on Al’s face could only be described as predatory.  “We
don’t know what’s going to happen when we get back.  And it won’t be
allevening.  But yes, that’s what I want to do.”
          Ed swallowed harshly before clearing his throat.  “Well I guess it’s
a good thing I brought that stuff then.  But we’ll have to be quiet and we
can’t do anything here we’ll have to go back to camp…”
          Al’s mouth on his cut off the rest of Ed’s babbling.  “Actually I
think we should do something here.  The Celts valued fertility and the goddess
had several sons herself.  A sexual act here among the stones may just give us
the edge we need,” he murmured against Ed’s throat.  “Why don’t you go get the
sleeping bags and the stuff and meet me where we’re going to draw the circle? 
I’ll be waiting for you, Brother.”
          Alphonse nipped gently just behind Edward’s ear before getting up and
strolling off.  Brother needs to relax and this really might help with the
magic we need.  Besides this might be my last chance to be a bit more dominant
with him.  We both need this. 
It didn’t take long for Edward to meet Alphonse in the designated spot. 
Alphonse wordlessly took the sleeping bags and spread them out to his liking. 
Edward found himself strangely quiet as Alphonse took the lead tonight.  There
had been many times with Roy when Ed found himself being somewhat submissive to
Roy’s dominance, but this was new.  Ed’s role with Al had always been as the
teacher and he found himself thrilling to this new aspect in their
relationship.
Considering the main concerns for this evening were to relax his brother and to
raise sexual energy Al was clear on taking the lead, but in no hurry to rush
things.  He leisurely undressed Ed, but left his own clothing on.  Ed seemed
remarkably aroused by the change in Al’s behavior.  He trembled, gasped,
pleaded, and moaned as Al proceeded to kiss, nip, and lick all over his body. 
After a very thorough blow job Al took off his own clothing while Ed was
recovering from his orgasm.
Edward lay prone on the sleeping bags watching his younger brother with half
closed eyes.  “What’s all this about, Al?” he murmured drowsily.
Al crawled catlike over his body, kissing him thoroughly.  “We need the energy
boost for the portal to open and you need to relax.  Besides Brother, I’ve
never really had the chance to take care of you before.  It’s always been you
taking care of my needs.  Don’t you like it?” 
Ed gasped as Al’s very talented mouth found the sensitive skin just behind his
ear.  Al’s hands were busily working Ed’s body back into semi-arousal and it
was all he could do not to whimper.  “I fucking love it,” Ed managed to whisper
roughly.
Alphonse lifted his head to meet Edward’s eyes squarely.  “That’s good
Brother.  I need you to tell me if I try anything you don’t like, okay?  We’ve
got several hours before we can draw the circle and I intend to keep you very,
very busy.”
Ed’s eyes began to glaze over as Al’s index finger circled and entered his
rectum.  “Please,” he whispered to the beautiful young man whose entire focus
was his pleasure.
“I intend to,” he was informed just before Al’s tongue invaded his mouth and a
second finger was added to stretch him open.  Ed gave himself over to his
brother’s ministrations in a way he’d never done before.  Al was attentive to
his every sound and movement.  Just when something became too much or not
enough it would change.  Ed was practically sobbing by the time Al was at his
entrance.
Pausing momentarily Al pulled up to speak softly into Ed’s ear.  “We’re running
low on condoms Brother.  Do you want me to use one?”
Wordlessly Ed shook his head.  His body was a ruined mess and he needed Al
inside him now. Al pulled Ed’s legs further apart than usual, then leaned into
Ed’s body to prop Ed’s legs over his shoulders.  With one hand on the sleeping
bag next to Ed’s heaving chest Al used the other to hold his cock as he pushed
inside.  Sweat was abundant on his forehead at the concentration this had
taken, but it was so worth it.  Ed had never come apart this much before.  As
he began to move Al felt a surge in the feeling of the place around him. 
Rocking into Ed was pulling Al into his own orgasm.  Quickly he used his free
hand to pull Ed up into a kiss.  As he explored Ed’s mouth thoroughly with
tongue and teeth he felt more than heard Ed sob into his mouth.  Oh goodAl
thought as he felt Ed’s body helplessly tightening around him.  Ed painted them
in streams of pulsing white as Al felt himself pulsing into Ed.  Thank goodness
Ed remembered to bring cleaning supplies, too.  This would have made a horribly
sticky mess otherwise.
They lay gasping against each other for quite some time before Alphonse managed
to raise his head and look down at Edward.  “I hope you know it’s your turn
next, Brother.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?  I need at least an hour before I can be expected
to move,” his older brother informed him in the most sexually satisfied tone of
voice Al had heard from him.
Al hummed happily against Ed’s throat and decided an hour would be the perfect
amount of time to rest before getting Ed worked up again.
 
          It was a memorable evening that did seem to raise the magical level
around the stones.  But the most important thing for Alphonse was Edward
finally did relax and they were able to just rest together until it was time to
begin preparations for the circle.
===============================================================================
 
          The circle had been redrawn in its designated spot and now all that
was left was for midnight to ascend.  Alphonse had said nothing to Edward about
it, but after the sex they’d had earlier he’d felt that differentfeeling about
this area increase.  He was counting on whatever that was opening the portal
for them at the appointed time.  Edward was getting nervous again with nothing
to do, so Alphonse pulled him down next to him.  “What will you say to Roy when
we get home, Brother?”
          Such simple words, but they gave Ed a purpose in those last few
minutes.  He was able to concentrate fully on them and stop the restless
fidgeting he’d been doing.  “I dunno.  I really don’t.  I mean, do you walk up
to the love of your life and ask how they’ve been when they know you’re fucking
your brother?  Maybe we shouldn’t have involved Roy in this…”
          “Ed you weren’t there.  Roy thought about what his life would be
without you in it – without us in it.  He knows what’s happened and he’s
willing to accept it.  All of it.  I can’t really imagine anyone else would be
able or willing to, but he does want a life with us.  I think all you really
need to tell him when you get back is that you love him.  The rest will come in
time.  And Ed, you need to accept that Roy and I may never have as close a
relationship as the one you have with him.  It’s something we’ll just have to
work out on our own.”
          Edward turned to give Alphonse a soft smile.  “How did you get so
smart when it comes to people?  I know I need both of you in my life, but I
didn’t know Roy had really thought about it.  And you’re right – whatever
happens between you and Roy is your business.  I just want both of you to be
happy, safe, and whole.”
          Alphonse pulled Edward’s auto-mail hand into his own.  “I want to
have you whole again, too Brother.  I’m not going to give up searching for a
way to make that happen.”
          Ed swallowed.  He looked down at their joined hands then brought Al’s
forward to lay a chaste kiss on it.  “You did it once and I lost you.  I can’t
do that again, Al.  You can keep looking if you want, but you can’t take a
chance like that again.  Promise me.” 
Ed’s eyes bored into Al’s until the younger lowered his eyes.  “I promise
Brother.  I’ll run all of my ideas by you first so we both know what we’re
getting into.”
          Alphonse glanced at his watch and saw the time was almost upon them. 
With a tap at his watch to Edward, Al pulled him to his feet and both readied
themselves for whatever was going to happen next. 
          As the midnight hour hit them Alphonse felt the ground he was
standing upon begin to hum.  It felt full of an energy he’d not fully grasped
before and by instinct he went onto his knees beside the circle.  Ed frowned
but mimicked his movement, placing his hands upon the circle as Al was. 
          Al pulled in a breath and turned to smile at Ed.  “We’re going home
now.  I can feel it.”  Al pushed into all that energy.  And felt something
inside him come to life.  Apparently Alphonse had an aptitude for the magic of
this world that Edward didn’t have.  He didn’t know if it was because of Ed’s
sheer lack of belief in gods and religion or something else, but whatever it
was he used it.
          Off to their right something was beginning to gather.  Alphonse kept
all the magical energy circulating while the figure of a woman began to
coalesce.  Ed was flabbergasted, but managed to keep his usual screech to
himself.  The woman turned a curious face to them before quietly stating,
“That’s quite enough young man.  I don’t know what you’re planning to do with
all that energy you’ve raised, but you have my attention.  What is it you
want?”
          Al and Ed sat back as the woman slowly approached them.  She was tall
with long flowing hair a color they’d not seen before.  It was a deeper red
than anything they’d seen – almost the color of blood from a head wound.  Her
skin was pale in the moonlight and her eyes a deep reddish-brown.  She was
swathed in robes that seemed to be made of the dark night around them rather
than cloth.  And she appeared very curious about them based on how she was
looking them over.
          A small frown appeared on her face.  “How are you still mortal?  You
have both died twice - I can feel it.  You should have been ferried to the
underworld ages ago, yet there is no taint of sorcery on you.”
          Ed was staring open mouthed so Al tried to explain their situation. 
“You’re right, we’ve both technically died twice.  But we’re not from your
world, we’re from another world where magic doesn’t exist, but alchemy does. 
So we used our alchemical skills to survive a mortal death twice.  And now
we’re trying to open the portal between our two worlds so we can go home.  We
mean no offense to you, Lady.  You arethegoddess known as The Morrigan, aren’t
you?”
          She nodded in acknowledgement.  “I felt renewed interest lately.  It
must have been the two of you.  Tell me, how did you learn of me if this is not
your world?”
          Al looked ruefully at Ed who shrugged.  “Alchemy involves lots of
reading.  There are lots of books written about you.  We just figured we could
use magic instead of alchemy to get home.  And we’re hoping you might help us.”
          The Morrigan folded her hands together in front of her.  “Tell me of
these deaths you experienced and I might help you open your portal.”
          Al put a hand on Ed’s arm to keep him from speaking.  “Our mother
died when we were young.  I was ten and Ed was eleven.  Our father was gone and
we had no other family so we wanted to be with her again.  We didn’t understand
that trying to bring Mom back was wrong.  And we paid the price for the
attempt.  I lost my entire body and Ed lost his left leg.  To bring my soul
back Ed sacrificed his right arm.  I lived as a suit of armor for almost five
years.  We finally found a way to restore my physical body, but Ed was killed. 
And I couldn’t live without him so I gave up my soul to bring him back to
life.  But Ed couldn’t accept that I was gone.  So he used the renewed body I
had given him to bring me back.  The problem then was that I was in Amestris
and Ed was over here with his auto-mail again.  It’s a bit of a long story,”
Alphonse ended apologetically.
          The Morrigan’s frown was more pronounced.  “Auto-mail?” 
          Ed helpfully held up his arm and pulled the sleeve up so she could
see his auto-mail.  Her eyebrows rose at the sight, but she nodded thanks at
him.
          “You told me of your two deaths young man, but only one of your
brother’s.  And why could you not simply curry the favor of one of the
Underworld gods to visit your mother?  I do not understand the desperation
you’re describing.”
          Both brothers looked confused now.  “Underworld?  What are you
talking about?” Alphonse asked slowly.
          The Morrigan cocked her head at them in curiosity.  “You truly do not
know?  The Underworld is where the spirits of our dead go.  Well where they
used to go before new gods took over.  Now they supposedly go to a realm called
Heaven, although I’ve yet to hear of a way to visit it.  I am a gatekeeper of
sorts to the Underworld.  One of my duties as a goddess is to guide the souls
of the dead to the Underworld.  This particular time of the year is the best
time to visit with departed souls.  I just assumed that the two of you had that
in mind.”
          Ed was starting to look pissed so Al grabbed him before he could
begin ranting at the goddess.  After a few soothing strokes of Al’s arm down
his back Ed was able to calm down somewhat.  The goddess had been watching all
of this with interest and now had a small smirk.
          “I see the two of you have a very strongbond.  That is very bold of
you considering the views of the humans on siblings and incest.”  She leveled a
knowing smile on them.  “My siblings and I engaged in several affairs over the
centuries.  I even had sons with one of my brothers.  But as gods it was
accepted.  Is thisthe reason the two of you are trying to get this gate open so
very badly?”
          Alphonse took a deep breath while keeping his arm around his
trembling brother.  Neither of them had expected to discuss their relationship
with the goddess and Edward was very upset.  After pressing a small kiss to the
corner of Edward’s mouth Alphonse met the goddess’ amused gaze. 
          “We’re trying to get home because we don’t belong here.  Ed’s auto-
mail isn’t accepted and the person he loves is in Amestris.  I won’t have
Edward miserable and hiding the rest of his life!  He deserves so much more
than that.  And I’m hoping that if we can get back I may still be able to get
his full body back.  Please, will you help us?”
          The Morrigan pursed her lips at Alphonse’s response.  “My dear child,
there may be someone your brother loves on the other side, but he also loves
you.  It is clearly there for anyone who cares to see it.   I am tempted to
help you simply because the human taboo on incest infuriates me.  In your case
what possible trouble could it cause?  If it were to lead to children, yes I
could understand the problem with human genes.  But the two of you could not
possibly procreate.  Which leads me to ask one more thing:  which god in your
world is responsible for ferrying souls to their resting place?”
          The brothers were baffled.  Edward stepped forward to confront this
idea.  “What the fuck are you talking about?  There’s no god for that!  The
closest thing I’ve ever seen is that bastard in the Gate that took Al’s body
and my arm and leg.”
          The Morrigan stiffened and a dull light was beginning to glow around
her.  “No one to care for the dead?  That cannot be.  There must be someone
appointed to this task.”
          Alphonse stepped forward and placed a soothing arm around Edward’s
waist.  This was something he hadn’t experienced much of himself, but Ed had
nightmares about it all the time.  It had been a horrifying experience for his
older brother and he was slightly shocked that Ed was willing to speak of it at
all.
          “There are god figures in Amestris, but I’ve never heard of one that
cares for the dead.  We alchemists believe in the theory of equivalent
exchange, but when we tried to bring Mom back we didn’t really understand what
it meant.  Brother and I thought by using alchemy and the necessary compounds
for a human body we could make it work.  But once someone’s dead in Amestris
they stay dead.  We don’t really know what happens to the souls.”
          The goddess was quite obviously pissed off at this idea.  “We are
going to open that gate so I may have a conversation with that ‘bastard’ as you
called him.  The dead deserve peace once they have left their mortal life, and
if they are not receiving it I shall have to do something about that.  But
first we need my brother to attend us.  Granted I can use the power you
gathered so nicely, but I need him to open the gateway.”
          The Morrigan closed her eyes for a moment before they opened with a
slight glow.  “Manannan Mac Lir I summon you!”
          The brothers were glancing at each other as a man seemed to appear
out of the darkness around them and walked unhurriedly over to the goddess. 
The new arrival smelled of the sea, carried a staff with a trident at the end,
and had long bluish green hair.  His skin was a strange combination of green
with just a hint of blue, and his hair moved around him as he walked.  It had
the appearance of waves and flowed over his shoulders and back as he approached
The Morrigan.  Ed gaped at the arrival of one who was clearly not human while
Alphonse observed the interactions of the two gods.  They obviously were more
than siblings just as he and Ed were, and Al realized the goddess was genuine
in her empathy with their situation.
          Manannan raised his brows as the Morrigan quickly filled him in on
why she had called him to her side.  He glanced over at Ed and Al before
quirking them a quick grin.  “You two are lucky.  The last time I saw Morri so
enraged there were many deaths to be had.  My sister takes her duties very
seriously, don’t you love?”
          The Morrigan scowled at Manannan.  “Do not call me pet names in front
of those boys!  I need your help to open this Gate so I may confront this thing
they speak of.  Will you lend me your aid or not?”
          Manannan made a shooing gesture at the brothers.  “Could the two of
you give us a moment, please?”
          Amused Alphonse grabbed Edward’s hand and pulled him a few stones
away to give the gods time to work out their plan of action.  Edward was in a
bit of a shock over finding not one, but twogods this evening.  Alphonse pulled
Edward into a hug before whispering into his ear “I have a good feeling about
this Brother.  I think they’re going to help us and they even seem nice for
non-humans.”
          Edward scowled as he heard a throaty moan from the direction of said
gods.  “They’re making out, Al.  We finally meet gods and they’re just as horny
as the bastard Colonel is.”
          Al smiled against his brother’s hair.  “Does it really matter as long
as they help us?”
          “Well no.  But I figured actual gods would be all high and mighty or
something.”
          “They are based on human thought processes Brother.  And humans do
seem to spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about sex.  So it’s really
not all that surprising.”
          Ed sighed in annoyance.  “Are they done yet?”
          “We’re ready to assist you now, if you’d be so kind as to come back
over here,” the male god’s voice called cheerily.
          The Morrigan looked decidedly ruffled, but also more relaxed as they
approached.  She looked them both over carefully before saying quietly “You
both know to keep your relationship relatively quiet once you get home, yes?  I
still think it ridiculous, but as humans you will always have to deal with the
taboo of incest.  Please be careful.  I would hate to have to escort you to the
Underworld before you’ve lived full lives.”
          Alphonse said softly “Yes ma’am” while Edward just nodded.
          The Morrigan looked them over one last time.  “What are your names?”
          “Edward and Alphonse Elric,” Ed supplied as he gestured to each of
them in turn. 
          She nodded.  “We may yet see each other again.  Manannan, are you
ready?”
          At his nod the goddess gestured for the brothers to come and stand
behind her.  “I don’t want the two of you getting damaged when we open this.”
          The two gods stepped forward and the world shifted.  The Gate
appeared before them, but once it was open it was difficult for the Elrics to
fully understand what was happening.  The goddess appeared to be arguing with
something, and there may have been a skirmish, but they just couldn’t
concentrate clearly enough to really understand it.
          After what seemed a few minutes Manannan approached them.  He looked
a bit uncomfortable as he said “Morri has arranged for your travel through the
Gate.  You were right, that thing is a bastard.  I don’t like the agreement she
made with it, but it was her choice and I will stand by it.  Go now, before it
changes its mind.”
          The brothers gathered the few possessions they had brought with them
and moved toward the Gate.  Ed couldn’t quite suppress a shiver, but managed to
keep walking forward.  As they came abreast of the goddess they saw she had an
odd look on her face.  “Go on, the two of you.  And remember me.”
          Alphonse impulsively gave her a hug, which was hesitantly returned. 
Then he and Ed walked as quickly as they could into the waiting mass of black
hands.
          Manannan approached as the Gate closed behind the brothers.  “Will
you really become human and live in their world for thirty human years?”
          “Yes.  I agreed to the bargain, even if all I wanted to do was tear
that thing apart.  Perhaps if I spend some time in their world I can learn of
this alchemy they speak of and put to right some of what’s wrong with their
Underworld.”  She turned with a soft smile.  “But I get to choose when I cross
over and I believe I’ll let those boys age a bit first.  Since you’re here with
me now, would you like to continue what we started earlier?”
          Manannan stepped into her embrace.  “Of course I do.  When have I
ever turned you down, Morri?”
                      Central, Amestris, October 31, 1919
          It was 12:45 and Roy was getting antsy.  He knew the time wouldn’t be
perfect as he and Alphonse had discussed the difference between the two worlds
the last time they spoke.  But he was impatient to see the Elrics again, and
Hawkeye was beginning to twitch at his pacing.
          “Sir, if you will just sit downI’m sure they will be here
momentarily.  Those boys have never failed you before and they’re not going to
now.”
          Roy plopped himself down on the ground and tried very hard not to
wring his hands.  “You know that Edward and I will be living together and
Alphonse will be staying with us as well.  Do you really approve of that,
Major?”   
          Hawkeye had a small smile on her face as she replied.  “Maria and I
would never begrudge you a relationship with Edward.  Since his ties to the
military have been ended there is no issue of fraternization and he’s more than
legally old enough for the law to look the other way.  And I understand why you
want to move, Sir.  I would imagine living a quiet life with the man you love
preferable to staying in Central.”
          Roy sent her a grateful look.  “There are wonderful schools in both
locations so Alphonse will have his pick of programs.  I’m assuming he’ll want
to study alchemy of some sort, but there are many areas of study available. 
And Edward will have his pick of positions anywhere.  It will be wonderful to
have them both home,” he finished quietly.
          Movement from the portal broke off whatever Hawkeye might have said
next.  The air seemed to shimmer momentarily around the portal before Edward
tripped through pulling Alphonse behind him.  Roy ran over just in time to
catch Edward who managed to get out, “We made it Al,” before passing out.
          Available medics checked both brothers out.  They appeared to be
severely exhausted, and in need of rest, but otherwise healthy.  Roy transmuted
two stretchers for the brothers to be laid on for the long walk back to the
surface.  He still knew of no way to close the portal without input from the
Elrics, so for the time being a guard was left to monitor the portal.
          It took 48 hours for Edward to wake up in the hospital, and another 6
for Alphonse.  Roy stayed by Edward’s side and had made sure the staff had put
the brothers into the same room.  When Ed finally opened his eyes to see Roy
sitting there beside him it took a moment to process everything.  He
immediately looked around for Al, and upon finding him in the same room
relaxed.
          Roy moved to sit on the bed with him and pulled Ed into his arms. 
“You’re home now, Edward.  Both of you are home.  We’ll stay here in the
hospital until Alphonse is able to leave and then both of you are coming to my
house.  I promise you, we will find a way to make this work.”
          Ed breathed in the familiar scent of Roy’s skin and finally,
finallyrelaxed.  Somehow they’d done it.  He and Alphonse had made it past that
bastard in the Gate in one piece and were back in Amestris.  The days ahead
were going to be awkward, and uncomfortable, but he found himself actually
hoping for the happiness Al had wished for.  With both of the people he loved
most in his life again, Ed was willing to believe they just might find what
they were looking for.
          Closing his eyes and breathing in Roy’s scent, Ed patiently waited
for Al to wake up.  Together they could find a way to be complete.
                                      fin
                                        
Thank you all so very much for reading!  
As a special gift to all the wonderful readers who spent their valuable time
reading my very ambivalent fic I'm including a link that explains why this
story came to be.  You can find it here.
Chapter End Notes
     So that's it! Don't know if I dare to write a sequel or if I even
     want to, but considering the entire reason this was written was to
     get it out of my head, there is that distinct possibility. If you
     want more of this OT3, found errors, or want to offer constructive
     criticism please leave me a comment.
     Update - took the extra privacy back off my stuff as I noticed that
     most of the people on AO3 who write much better stuff than I do don't
     have privacy on their stuff. So....here's hoping there's no more
     issues with bots uploading crap.
End Notes
     Please don't send me comments asking when I'm going to update. I will
     update if and when I have the time as I'm raising 3 kiddos and have
     multiple WIPs in different fandoms. Any kudos or other comments are
     always appreciated. Thanks for reading!
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