Chapter Fourteen

When they got back to NCIS, Edward watched as the others tried to figure out a way to get Moore's still unconscious form into the building without anyone noticing. Technically, Moore didn't exist in this dimension, and it was apparently frowned on to put an unconscious person into an interview room without medical personnel looking them over. DiNozzo was the one who came up with a solution.

"Why don't we go to the back entrance of the morgue and take him in that way?" he suggested.

Gibbs looked at him for a moment before pulling out his phone and having a quick conversation with Ducky. "Good thinking DiNozzo." Tony looked proud of himself as Gibbs looked at Hotch and Rossi. "We'll take Moore and Edward through the morgue. Ducky can have a look at Edward's shoulder, and he can also look at Moore before we take Moore up to interrogation. Ziva, go tell Vance what we're doing," he ordered and she nodded, heading for the front of the building.

"The rest of us will wait in the conference room for you and Edward," Hotch said and Gibbs nodded. Mustang didn't seem pleased that Ed would be out of his sight, but he hid it well enough. Ed just rolled his eyes at his commander, refusing to admit that he was touched by the concern and hopped in the passenger seat of the sedan, leaving McGee and DiNozzo to sit with Moore in between them while Gibbs drove and parked next to the ME van. Ducky was waiting for them and he didn't look happy.

"You couldn't go more than a few hours without getting hurt?" he asked as Ed stepped out of the car, his eyes going to the thick bulge of bandages around the teen's shoulder.

Edward grinned sheepishly while the agents hauled Moore out of the car. "I'd like to say that this is the quickest I've gotten hurt after being patched up, but I'd be lying."

"Well, come on. I haven't got all day and don't think you won't get questioned about him." He glared at all of them while pointing at Moore. Ed dutifully followed the doctor inside, leaving Moore in the capable hands of the NCIS agents. Ed took a seat on the stool he'd vacated only a few hours ago. Meanwhile, McGee and DiNozzo hoisted Moore up onto one of the autopsy tables. Ed half hoped the man would wake up so he could watch him freak out.

"I had a paramedic look at it. She said I also popped a couple of my stitches," he told Ducky as he carefully pulled off his hoodie and t-shirt. McGee and DiNozzo barely stopped themselves from flinching as they took in the sight of Edward's automail and all the scars bruises littering his torso. Gibbs' eyes narrowed intently, but he remained silent. Even without the scars, the amount of bruising was almost impressive.

Ducky carefully removed the dressings the paramedic had applied and made a sympathetic noise when he saw the wound. "You'll need stitches in that cut and I need to redo at least half of the original ones." Ed shrugged his automail shoulder and nodded. "I don't know if I have any local anesthetic left," Ducky mused, half to himself.

"Don't worry about it. Just stitch me up without it," Ed told him.

Ducky looked horrified. "You are not getting a dozen stitches without some sort of pain relief. I'll find something," he said sternly before heading off to do just that while Ed watched him, a little shocked at the coroner's adamant attitude. McGee and DiNozzo sniggered at his face until they were stopped by identical glares from both Edward and Gibbs. Ducky came back from his storage closet. "I had enough local anesthetic," he announced.

"Sweet," Ed said as he watched Ducky administer it. After a couple of minutes, he couldn't feel anything and he gave the doctor the go ahead.

"So what happened this time?" Ducky asked as he started stitching.

"Well, he was kinda pissed that he fell for the fake stones, and I may have made a comment about his intelligence being non-existent. Turns out he had a knife stashed in the room and he attacked me. He got my shoulder but buried the knife in the wall doing so. I punched him in the gut to get him away from me and Mustang hit him hard enough for Gibbs and Hotch to cuff him with minimal resistance," Ed answered.

"Hmm. So why is he unconscious? Who knocked him out?" Ducky queried. DiNozzo snorted a little, but Gibbs slapped him on the back of the head.

"That would be me," Ed told him and Ducky looked confused. "I knocked him out because his voice was getting really annoying," he explained and Ducky looked exasperated.

"At least tell me you don't make a habit of doing that?" he asked.

Ed actually had to pause and think about his answer. "No…. I usually knock them out during the fight or they're smart enough to mouth off after I'm out of striking distance," he finally said. "Moore was neither. Idiot decided to bitch about being arrested and kept threatening me and Mustang, so I elbowed him in the back of the head," he added defensively.

"I'm not certain why that doesn't surprise me, and I've only known you for a few days," Ducky muttered, continuing work on Ed's shoulder. McGee and DiNozzo joined in on Ed's chuckle. Ducky soon had all of Edward's wounds stitched up and was just packing away his supplies when Moore started stirring. Ed was kind of surprised the crazy man had stayed out as long as he had.

"McGee, take Edward upstairs to the conference room," Gibbs ordered and Ed started to argue, but realised it was probably for the best if he wasn't around when Moore started bitching again. Gibbs and DiNozzo should be able to control Moore well enough, since Edward had all of the real Stones. He followed McGee to the elevator, hearing the beginnings of Moore's mumbling as the autopsy doors slid shut behind them.

When they opened the conference room door, he was greeted by far less noise than he'd expected. Though, now that he was thinking about it, it was nearly five a.m. and everyone was probably exhausted. Ed knew he was, despite his extended nap the day before. Mustang was the first to notice him, though Ed had the feeling that was because he was watching the door, even though he'd been doing a good job at pretending he wasn't. Mustang was, however, not the first person to greet him.

"Edward!" JJ got that honour as she stood up to fuss over him. "Are you alright?" she asked, her concerned-mum voice coming out. She had his face between her hands and was checking the bruises she could see.

"Doctor Mallard patched me up. I'll be pretty sore tomorrow, but I'm alright, Miss JJ," Ed told her and she looked at him for a moment before sighing in resignation.

"You should go back to the hotel and get some sleep," she said but Hotch spoke up.

"First, we need to know what happened after he and Agent David were taken. Everything from that moment until we showed up." His tone and expression were apologetic.

"Okay. So you saw Miss Ziva and I get put in that van, right?" Ed asked and everyone nodded. He started telling them everything and no one commented throughout the story, except to snort when Ziva reminded him he'd turned around and flipped Moore off as they were running. It took almost a half hour to tell it all, and Ziva made some insertions when Edward missed something, which he appreciated. "And then you lot turned up just as Moore got my shoulder with that spike," he finished.

"Thank you, Edward. Do you think you can tell us what happened in the building tonight? Brigadier General Mustang has already given us his version of the events, but we'd like to hear yours," Rossi asked and Ed scowled at the use of Mustang's title.

"Sure. We snuck in through a window and past the four people on the first floor. Mustang and I took down the next four on the second floor. When we got to the third floor, I went through the air vents and took down three people, then helped Mustang tackle the only one in his trio that decided to fight. We secured them and went up to the last floor. I made Mustang stay behind so I could play bait, like we had planned. I used the door Moore was hiding behind to take out one of the three idiots who decided to fight with Moore. The bigger dude eventually got me in a choke hold and then the skinny dude stole the fake stones from me. Moore fell for the trick, I broke the big dude's nose, and the lanky dude took off. From what I heard outside; Mustang took care of him. After that, I fought Moore, who was really pissed that I wasn't as dumb as he thought I was. I'm pretty sure Mustang took the other dude out of the room, but I was occupied with dodging Moore's knife, so I'm not entirely sure. Then Moore tried to stab me and missed. I hit him in the gut and Mustang punched him. Then you lot came in and arrested Moore."

Mustang was kind of glad he wasn't the only one whom Edward reported to like that, but Hotch didn't seem to mind.

"Well, that seems pretty consistent with what the Brigadier General said." Ed rolled his eyes at Mustang's title. Hotch looked between the two alchemists. "Did you want to go back to the hotel to get some sleep?"

Edward and Mustang exchanged a look. "We will, but separately, just in case," Mustang replied. "I don't think Moore will be able to do anything since he doesn't have the Stones, but there's no point in taking chances." The BAU agents looked like they wanted to insist they both just go but decided against it.

"Okay. Who's going first?" Hotch asked.

"Me. Mustang did fuck-all, and I need a shower," Ed said, jumping up and dismissing Mustang before he could even say anything.

"I'll agree you need a shower," Mustang drawled and Edward whirled on his commander and glared at him.

"I'll kick your ass," Ed warned, and Mustang gave him an inviting look, as if to say 'what are you waiting for?'. Ed spotted it a second after Morgan did.

"As much fun," Morgan said as he caught Ed by his automail arm, "as it would be to see you actually kick his ass, we should go before the morning traffic gets too bad."

Ed glared at Mustang for a moment longer before turning to Morgan. "Okay. Let's go." He flipped Mustang off as he headed for the door.

Prentiss followed Morgan and Edward out to the elevator and down to the cars. Even though Moore was in custody, their orders to make sure that there were always two agents with each of the alchemists still stood. It didn't take long for them to get to the hotel, though it took longer than Edward would have thought, since even though it was early morning there was a lot of traffic. One good thing about Central (and Amestris in general) was that even though it was the capital city, there still weren't this many cars. Ed headed up to his and Mustang's room before turning to face the agents.

"Wake me up in," he thought for a second, "five hours. That should be good enough. Then Mustang can come and get his beauty sleep." Morgan nodded, but Prentiss looked a little concerned.

"Are you sure five hours will be long enough?" she asked and Ed nodded.

"Yup. I'll use my absorbing array while I sleep. It'll be fine," Ed told her and although she didn't look convinced, she nodded and they left him alone and headed for their own rooms. The shower he took was amazing. He could feel the crazy from Moore and his lackeys washing off of him and he was grateful Ducky had thought to put waterproof bandages on his shoulder so he didn't have to worry about changing them when he got out. Throwing on a clean tank top and boxers, he slipped into bed and was asleep only moments after drawing and activating his array.

He woke up groggily to the sound of someone knocking on his door. Rubbing his eyes to get the grit of sleep out of them, he staggered to the door and opened it to see Morgan on the other side. "If it hasn't been five hours…" he began threateningly, but Morgan held his hands up in a calming gesture.

"Chill blondie, it has been. Are you alright? Do you want to get some more sleep?" he asked, doing a very good job at not staring at Ed's automail. Of all the BAU team, only JJ and Reid had ever seen either of the whole limbs and the sight was rather disconcerting. However, Morgan knew that he'd seen worse.

Ed glared at him blearily. "No," he finally said, the threat of murder vanishing from the gold eyes. "I'm awake now. Just give me twenty minutes? Yeah, that should be plenty. Twenty minutes and I'll be ready. But we need coffee. The stuff in here is terrible and I need decent coffee to wake me up from not enough sleep," Ed told him sternly, shutting the door before Morgan could reply.

Twenty minutes later, Morgan and Prentiss were waiting downstairs in the lobby. Edward joined them a couple of minutes later, wearing another pair of jeans, his red hoodie (newly cleaned and repaired) and a black t-shirt with the quote 'Ask me if I care (hint: I don't)' written on it in white. Prentiss wondered if Garcia had been the one to pick it out. She was fairly certain that the tech genius was.

The drive back to NCIS took forever, or so it felt, but that was only because of all the traffic and Ed needed food and coffee to function properly. He looked at the clock in the car and saw it was nearly eleven a.m., which meant they had just over a day before Al would open the portal again. Ed wondered if he could talk Doctor Reid into finding him some books to read to pass the time before he remembered that some of the agents had said there was some stuff they wanted him to try before he left again.

They finally reached the Navy Yard and NCIS. Security was as thorough as ever and Ed wondered what would happen if they did find something wrong. He was curious to know how they would respond. Almost immediately, a warning voice in his head (that sounded suspiciously like Alphonse) was telling him not to do anything stupid. For once, he listened to it. The second SUV was still there when they parked, so he figured the rest of the two teams were still inside. That theory was proven correct when they walked into the conference room and saw everyone, including Vance, there.

"Appropriate," Mustang smirked, his eyes reading the quote on Ed's shirt and flicking back up to meet Ed's.

"You know it," Ed said, collapsing into his chair. He vaguely heard someone ask if he was alright (JJ, he thought), and gave them a thumbs up. "Just waiting for the coffee to kick in," he muttered and heard a familiar snicker. He flipped the older alchemist off.

"I'll head to the hotel now that Fullmetal is back," Mustang announced and Ed lifted his head up. Rossi and JJ were standing near him.

"Thank fuck. You need all the sleep you can get in your old age," Ed snarked.

Mustang glared at him. "Keep it up brat, and I'll tell Alphonse how little sleep you've been getting," he threatened, but Ed looked thoroughly unimpressed.

"You think he doesn't already know? But go ahead. While you tell him that, I'll tell Miss Riza just how well-rested and eager to get back to your paperwork you are." He raised his eyebrow, challenging Mustang to try him and the flame alchemist glared at the blond before Rossi cleared his throat not-so-subtly and Mustang nodded.

"Try not to blow the building up, Fullmetal," he drawled as he moved to the door.

"You're not going to be in it. What would be the point?" Ed snapped as the door shut. He still glared at it, just in case. He looked back at the group and saw the bewildered looks on the junior NCIS agents' faces. The BAU agents seemed resigned and mildly amused – they were used to the vitriol from the two alchemists, after all – and both Gibbs and Vance looked nonplussed. "What?" he asked.

"Okay, do you and General Mustang get along or not?" DiNozzo asked bluntly. He didn't seem fazed by the looks he was getting from his teammates.

"Course we do. Wouldn't work together if we didn't." Ed frowned, confused. It was way too early for this, but DiNozzo looked even more perplexed. "If I don't like someone, I don't go near them and I certainly don't work with them. I mean, I hated him at first and I worked under him because that was part of our deal. He would sponsor me into the State Alchemist program and support my search for the Philosopher's Stone so I could help my brother, as long as I worked for him. He never hid the fact that he was using me as a tool to climb the political ladder. But I couldn't – and still don't – give a fuck about that. As long as he kept to our agreement and let me search for what I needed, I didn't care. There have been plenty of military higher-ups who have approached me with kind words and amazing promises and I told them all to fuck off because it was obvious that Mustang was the only one in the military who would do me the common courtesy of telling me the truth, no matter how harsh it was. It wasn't until after the Promised Day that Mustang and I could actually talk without trying to tear each other's throats out and without worrying as much about corrupt dicks trying to use it against us."

"So…the fighting?" McGee asked.

Ed sighed. "It's what we always do. If someone you worked with all the time changed the way they acted around you or someone you both work with, what would you think?" he asked pointedly and saw the moment they understood. "We act like this because it's a habit to act this way around people. Even around our teammates and my brother. If Mustang and I weren't getting along, we wouldn't be taunting each other like this." He shrugged and sat up properly.

"That…actually makes a lot of sense," DiNozzo said, sounding a little surprised. Ziva and McGee just rolled their eyes at him.

"Of course it does," Edward replied. "Now, what are we going to do to kill the next twenty-five hours or so?" he asked, just before the conference room door burst open, startling everyone. Abby and Garcia stood in the doorway.

"We saw General Mustang on our way up here," Abby explained. "He told us that you were back!" She moved over to Edward and pulled him out of his seat and hugged him tightly before letting him go. He barely had time to react to that when Garcia swept him up in an equally tight hug. "Hey, Director Vance, we're going to steal Edward for a little while," Abby added once she realised her director was in the room.

"And why are you stealing Edward, Miss Scuito?" he asked, deep voice tinged slightly with amusement. Ed had finally been released by the blonde tech genius and was now being lectured about worrying her.

"Oh! I ran some blood tests on the…Amestrians? Is that right?" Abby asked, looking over to Edward for clarification. When he nodded, she continued, turning back to Vance. "I ran tests on their blood. Scientific curiosity. I wanted to see the difference between our dimensions on a genetic level, and I also needed to type Moore's blood in case we had to I.D. a body."

"And what does that have to do with kidnapping our guest?" he asked, making her realise that she hadn't actually answered the question.

"Oh! Ed was curious as well and all of the test results are in now. I was going to show him – if you guys didn't need him anymore. Sir." She added the last part quickly, like she'd almost forgotten to do so.

"Why are you with Miss Scuito, Garcia?" Hotch asked with amusement. Garcia looked over at him, pausing in her fussing over Edward for the moment.

"Scientific curiosity," she replied.

"You aren't a scientist," Hotch pointed out, his brow quirking upwards in amusement.

"But I am curious," she sing-songed back and Hotch allowed a small smile before nodding. She grinned before beginning to pull Edward through the door.

"We'd like Major Elric back in one piece, Miss Scuito," Vance said. "And," he added, looking at both Edward and Abby, "no more experiments with alchemy that result in explosions, no matter how minor," he warned and Ed gave him a sheepish grin.

"Yes, Director." Abby smiled her nicest smile.

Ed looked over at Reid. "Hey Reid, do you wanna come with us?" Reid looked at Hotch hopefully. The BAU team leader just nodded and Reid grinned, eyes glinting with excitement as he stood up and joined them at the door. They were out of the door a moment later, oblivious to everyone's amusement at their excitement.

Soon they were entering Abby's lab and were surprised to see Ducky standing near the computers. A quick look around confirmed there was no one else down there and Ed theorized that maybe the good doctor was down here for the same reason they were: he was curious about the Amestrians' blood tests and wanted to see the results.

"Hey, Doctor Mallard," Ed greeted the elderly coroner as they piled into the lab. He looked up, mildly startled by their arrival.

"Ah, Edward. How are you this morning? Or rather, this afternoon? You haven't gotten into another fight, have you?" he asked sternly and Ed shook his head.

"Nope. I went back to the hotel and crashed for a few hours so I'm good. I'm guessing that you came down here to see what Miss Abby found out?"

Ducky nodded. "Oh, yes. I admit that I am rather intrigued by what differences there could be in our blood. Abby has, of course, already shown me the results from the first set of tests she ran on your blood. It's rather remarkable that your DNA doesn't share a link with any ethnicity in our world." Ducky sounded excitably curious about it.

Edward hesitated for a moment, wondering how much he should reveal, but then decided that it didn't really matter. It wasn't like the BAU or NCIS agents could reveal the truth to anyone in this dimension and be believed. They also weren't likely to ever run into anyone else from Amestris – and the truth about Ed's and Al's parentage wasn't a classified secret. It was only important to the two of them, now that Van Hohenheim was dead.

"To be honest, my brother and I are the only people in Amestris, that we know of, who have a direct connection to and are members of a particular race that was wiped out almost six hundred years ago. We're half Xerxian, half Amestrian. I'm not surprised you don't have an ethnic group here that matches that. Apparently, gold eyes are unheard of in both our worlds," Ed grinned at him. All four of the Americans looked intrigued by what he said.

"That's fascinating. How is it that you are half – Xerxian, was it?" Ducky asked and Ed nodded. "Half-Xerxian if that race went extinct six hundred years ago?"

"My father," the venom in his voice was less than it would have been a year ago, but still full of bitterness, "Van Hohenheim, was the Xerxian slave whose blood was used to create the first homunculous, the one who eventually became Father. The homunculous deceived him – he gave my father his name, taught him how to read and write, and taught him alchemy. With the knowledge that he got from the homunculous, Hohenheim was freed by his master and became an alchemy apprentice. When the homunculous tricked the King of Xerxes into preparing the array that he believed would make him immortal, the homunculous ensured that Hohenheim would be in the center of the circle when it was activated. The result was that although the entire nation of Xerxes was wiped out, the souls of the people were put into two Philosopher's Stones – half of them went to the homunculous, and the other half went to my father. With a Philosopher's Stone inside him, my father was essentially immortal. Since he was also Xerxian, when he married my mother, who was Amestrian, that means Al and I are half Xerxian."

Ducky nodded. "I'm assuming from what you mentioned, your eye colour is a trait of the Xerxian race?" Ducky asked and Ed nodded. "I see. Well, you are right about your eye colour being unusual. I've certainly never seen or heard of anyone coming across people whose eyes were naturally gold in colour."

"This is all really fascinating, and no, I'm not being sarcastic, but let's get to what we came down here for," Abby interrupted.

Ed scratched the back of his neck self-consciously, relieved for the change in subject. He didn't like talking about his father or his father's role in the Promised Day. "Sure thing, Miss Abby. What'd you find out?" he asked as he moved closer to the computer screen.

She tapped the keyboard for a moment before she pulled up several files. She arranged them so that all three were visible. "Okay, so this is Moore's blood. This one is Ed's, and this one is Mustang's," she told them, pointing to the files in question. "So the first thing I did was look at the genomes that indicate race. As you can guess, Ed's don't really show up anywhere. Some of them indicate that he could be of German descent, but they weren't an exact match. Moore's closely resembles German, but again isn't a complete match, but I'm going to assume that Amestrian DNA would register as German being the closest match. Mustang's DNA actually doesn't indicate Amestrian descent at all – but it does indicate more of an Asian descent. Maybe Japanese, possibly Korean. I'm assuming that Mustang isn't Amestrian?"

"Um…well, he's an Amestrian citizen," Ed said awkwardly. "But…yeah, as far as I know, his parents were from Xing, which is the country to the east of ours."

She nodded. "Okay, so here at least, he would be registered as Asian descent," she concluded. "But, like I said, none of the race genomes match exactly to any region. They just share similar markers to ones we've registered here." She sounded completely fascinated by this. Ed was intrigued by that as well.

"Oh, what about that second anomaly you found, Miss Abby?" he asked, remembering that it was the whole reason they made Mustang give them blood. Abby immediately pulled up the files she needed.

"Okay, so this was the second thing that really got me curious," she said before using her pointer to show them what she meant. "Ed already knows what my hypothesis is for it. I think it's their alchemy."

"Why?" Reid asked, curious to know how she reached that conclusion.

"It was something Ed said. He said he was born with the brains and the talent to use it. So I figured it had something to do with his genetic make-up. This anomaly is present in all three samples, though it's much fainter in Moore's than it is in Ed's or Mustang's. Ergo, alchemy."

Ed nodded in agreement. "She's probably right. Moore has alchemic talent; he just doesn't have enough for it to count. There are probably hundreds of people in Amestris who have the energy inside of themselves but lack the actual ability to use it. I've known other people who've studied alchemy for years but were never able to do more than the most basic transmutations – they just didn't have the strength or power to perform the higher-level transmutations."

"That could be true," Reid observed. "There's a difference between reading about something and actually doing it."

"I don't really know if that makes sense though. I guess the best way I can put it is that there's something instinctual about performing alchemy and if you don't have that instinct, you can't transmute," Ed tried to explain and he was relieved to see that they understood what he was trying to say.

"So you think Abby's right? That anomaly is your alchemy on a genetic level?" Reid asked. Ed shrugged, but nodded. "That's amazing. I wonder what else we could find out if we did an in-depth study of your blood?" he mused.

Ed shook his head. "Miss Abby's destroyed all of our blood samples, right?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah. As soon as I was done with them, they got incinerated. I'll end up scrubbing the results from my systems as well, just like I promised General Mustang I would," Abby said, sighing a little in sadness.

"Thanks, Miss Abby," Ed said sincerely, giving her a grateful smile. Reid distracted Abby with all sorts of questions that she and Ducky took turns answering. Ed joined in while Garcia asked clarifying questions, as she was more into tech stuff, not icky stuff, so she wasn't always able to follow what they were saying until she had them explain it a bit more for her.

They'd moved on from the blood samples to technology when Ed had admitted that he wasn't sure what half the stuff in the lab did, even after Abby's earlier tour. They were shocked to learn that the most advanced technology Amestris had were phones and cars. Reid and Garcia had already known this, and Abby and Ducky had suspected, but none of them had really realised just how badly behind his world was.

Morgan and DiNozzo walked in on that conversation and were admittedly confused, since they had expecting the conversation to still be about the blood samples and the test results.

"Hey, Boo," Garcia greeted Morgan when she spotted the two men.

"What up, loser?" Abby greeted Tony in turn as Ed raised a hand in a half-wave.

"Heya baby girl," Morgan smiled, sliding over to stand behind Garcia while Tony went to stand next to Abby.

"Hi nerd," Tony finished the round of greetings, squeezing her shoulders in a half-hug as he spotted Ducky. "Oh, hey Duckster. Didn't realise you'd be down here," he added with a grin.

"Well, I was admittedly intrigued when Abby showed me the results from young Edward's blood. I just had to see the other results myself," Ducky told him and Tony nodded. He didn't understand the fascination over some blood, but he could understand why Ducky would be interested.

"I'm sure you two aren't here to see what Abby found so what's up?" Reid asked and Morgan nodded.

"You'd be right genius. Prentiss and JJ want Ed for some reason," Morgan said and Ed furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Did they say what they wanted?" he asked. He couldn't remember them asking him for anything.

"Nope. They just told us to come and get you. You don't argue with JJ when she's using her 'mum' voice," Morgan told him and Reid and Garcia snickered from behind Ed. "You two shut your mouths," he ordered good-naturedly, the humour in his eyes lessening the impact of his order.

"Come on then. We'd better not keep them waiting," Ed said, before facing Abby. "Thank you for showing me the results. They were really informative," he said, dipping into a small bow. Abby immediately swept him up into a hug once he'd straightened.

"Thanks for letting me do the tests. And thank General Mustang too. It was fun," she said as he hugged her back, pretty much resigned to the nearly constant hugs he got from Abby and Garcia. He was finally released and allowed to leave, everyone except Abby and Ducky accompanying him back up to the conference room. Vance was no longer there, and Ed wasn't surprised to see Rossi and Mustang were missing, but he was surprised JJ wasn't there either.

"I thought you said JJ was the one to ask me back up here?" he asked Morgan.

"Yeah, she called. Someone's going to take you and Prentiss to the hotel so that person can switch with JJ," Morgan explained and Ed blinked before deciding to roll with it.

"Oh. Okay. I'm ready whenever you are, Prentiss," he said and she smiled at him before looking at Garcia.

"Are you coming with us?" she asked and Garcia nodded.

"Yup. Just let me get my bag. I'll meet you at the car," she offered and Prentiss nodded so Garcia left the room to gather her things.

"Reid, do you want to head to the hotel with us and switch with JJ?" Prentiss offered and Reid considered for a moment.

"Sure. I can get some reading done," he said finally. Ed realised in that moment that he'd neglected to ask something.

"Hey, how's Moore?" he asked Gibbs, who sighed slightly.

"He's been very vocal," he told him irritably. "Ducky treated his injuries and then we put him in one of the secure interrogation rooms. The director has had a few people complain about the amount of noise he's making."

DiNozzo shook his head in admiration. "I'm honestly kinda impressed he hasn't given up yet." Gibbs slapped him on the back of the head with a glare for extra emphasis.

"I can go and shut him up again. It honestly wouldn't be an issue, and I'd genuinely enjoy it," Ed offered, smirking in anticipation.

"Tempting, but no. We can't let you knock him out." Gibbs didn't sound overly happy to be saying that and Ed pouted a little.

"Not even if I use chemicals?" he asked and the three younger NCIS agents all looked ready to take him up on that offer, but Gibbs shook his head again.

"Not even then."

"Okay. But if you change your mind…" he trailed off pointedly and Gibbs almost smiled.

"I'll keep it in mind," he said dryly and Ed nodded before being hurried out the door by a now impatient Prentiss and an amused Reid.

Prentiss didn't tell Ed anything about what they were doing during the whole drive and Garcia was just as quiet about it. Apparently, JJ was the one with the plan and wanted to be the one to tell Ed, so they were respecting her wishes. That was, in fact, something Ed could also respect. It had only taken him ruining one of Winry's surprises for Al when they were younger before he learned that lesson. (And from what Al had told him, he'd only needed to be taught the same lesson once himself.) They reached the hotel and JJ was already waiting outside for them. She and Reid exchanged a few words before Reid waved goodbye to the group and headed inside, while JJ climbed into the seat Reid had occupied and gave Prentiss some instructions.

"So…where are we going?" Ed asked, feeling like it was safe to ask, since JJ was present.

"I thought we'd take you to do some shopping with us so you can seem some of what our country has to offer, and then after that we're going to see a movie that I think you'll enjoy," she told him.

Ed had to think back to his first visit to America. Garcia had explained pop culture to him and had also explained television and movies. The idea of seeing a movie had excited Edward. JJ had been sad that he hadn't had a chance to see one before they'd gone home, so apparently she was determined to make up for it this time.

"Really?" he asked excitedly and JJ nodded.

"Yup. Though you'll probably appreciate the fact that you get to sit down after we're done shopping more. I've been told we're hard to keep up with," JJ said, half apologetic and half amused.

Ed rolled his eyes. "I had to go along with Winry when she dragged me through the entirety of Central City searching for one stupid wrench that she wanted. I think I'll live." It had taken forever to find the exact wrench that she'd wanted and, naturally, it was in the last shop they'd looked at.

"I think he's challenging us," Garcia said to the other two women. They all had a look in their eyes that would have made Ed nervous if he hadn't been around Winry his whole life.

"Bring it on," he challenged them with a smirk and they all laughed at him. He kept asking questions about what they were going to do and see, but JJ was still tight-lipped about the whole thing, telling him that he'd just have to wait and see.

Ed soon discovered just how different America was from Amestris. In Amestris, shops were independently owned – usually single buildings run by a single proprietor. The concept of chain stores and retail giants hadn't yet made its way there. JJ took them to a huge building that she called a "mall", which, according to the women, had over three hundred stores in it. The idea of a single building holding that many stores was mind-boggling. He also learned just how different shopping was with these three, compared to shopping with Winry, or even the one-time Captain Hawkeye had asked him to accompany her so he could help her carry her purchases back to her apartment. In both cases, the Amestrian women had known exactly what they were looking for. The American women, on the other hand, were just flitting in and out of random shops whenever something caught their eye, dragging Ed along with him.

He was amazed by the wide variety of things on offer. The sheer number of clothing stores alone was hard to comprehend, especially for someone like him, who owned a total of four outfits, not including his formal military uniform, which he had probably only worn once in nearly six years, or the clothing the women had bought him already. The women kept trying to buy him things, but Ed asked how they expected him to take all the stuff home, hoping that the question would deter them. They seemed to deflate a little and Edward about to call it a win until Garcia suddenly perked up.

"We can buy him a backpack to store it all in!" she exclaimed and the two other women were immediately on board with this idea.

"Guys, you do know you don't need to buy me things? Don't go spending your money on me. I can't pay you back for it," Ed protested as they dragged him along to a store that sold backpacks and other types of luggage and bags. "You already bought us some clothing so we would fit in here."

"We know, Ed," JJ told him.

"We want to though," Prentiss assured him.

"Besides, in the unlikely event that we end up in Amestris somehow, you can return the favour," Garcia said cheerfully, and that seemed to end the conversation, as far as they were concerned. Anytime Ed tried to raise a further objection, he was overruled – except when Garcia tried to buy him some kind of technology. Then JJ and Prentiss were on Ed's side when he reminded her that he wouldn't be able to use it in Amestris due to their lack of technology. And if someone saw him using it, there would be questions about where he'd gotten it and it would mean that the secret of dimension travel would be exposed – the last thing that he or Mustang wanted. Garcia had pouted, but ultimately conceded the argument.

By the time JJ had announced that they needed to head to the cinema, Ed was almost as tired as he was after one of Winry's visits. He had to admit, women shopping in both dimensions were equally exhausting. They headed to the movie theatre after putting their purchases in the car since they'd bought too much stuff to carry in with them. JJ went up to the ticket seller and bought all of their tickets to see a movie called "Iron Man". Prentiss bought drinks and a few snacks, just so Ed would have the experience of movie theatre concessions, although she admitted that they would be going back to NCIS after the movie for dinner. Soon they were leading Ed into a darkened room with a massive screen and were taking their seats.

When they left after the movie was over, Ed couldn't stop asking questions about how the movie was made and some things he didn't understand about the plot of the movie. Garcia did her best to answer the technical stuff, and what she didn't know she pulled out her phone to look up the answer. It blew his mind to learn that most of the movie had been made with special effects and computers. The other two women switched their phones back on and Prentiss excused herself to call Hotch back.

By the time Prentiss rejoined them, they were organising their purchases and putting the things they'd bought for Ed into the bag they'd bought him. Garcia had, once she'd seen them, declared backpacks too small and went and found him a large duffel bag.

Ed had been forced to stand off to the side and not peek, since some of the gifts were supposed to be surprises and thus he was the first one to notice Prentiss rejoining them. She was still on the phone, but from her casual attitude, he was fairly certain she wasn't talking to Hotch anymore. She hung up just as she reached where he was standing.

"They're packing up your stuff, huh?"

Ed nodded. "Apparently, I'm not allowed to know everything they got me until I get back to Amestris. What did Hotch want?"

"He wanted me to let you know Mustang was back at NCIS."

"So who were you talking to just then?" he asked and Prentiss smirked.

"You noticed I was on the phone with someone else, huh?" He nodded. "Good observation. I was talking to Agent David. She told me to make sure you didn't have anything to eat before we get back, since she's cooked dinner for everyone."

Ed's face lit up at that. "She said she wanted to cook some of her home country's food for us, but I wasn't sure if she'd be able to."

Prentiss had to grin at how enthusiastic he was. None of the agents had really ever seen Ed act his biological age in the time that they had known him. "Well, I'll go and help those two so we can speed this up and get going, shall I?" Ed nodded his head so enthusiastically Prentiss thought it would come off. She laughed, ruffled his hair and made her way over to her teammates. She packed away the gifts she'd bought Ed as well and helped them get everything else organised. In no time at all, they were telling Ed he could get back in the car.

The trip back was a little quicker than the trip out to the mall since they didn't have to stop at the hotel to pick anyone up. They spent the car ride actually talking about the shopping trip and the movie, since all of Ed's questions about the technical side of it had been answered. Garcia decided the best part of the movie was Robert Downey Jr., and the two women agreed with her while Ed rolled his eyes once Garcia told him who Robert Downey Jr. was.

The drive through the security checkpoint was as uneventful as it had been every other time and soon they were parked beside the second SUV and were climbing out. There was a brief delay while they debated whether or not to bring the shopping in with them, until Ed pointed out that they'd just have to bring it back out and it wasn't like anyone would steal it from the car anyway. They could smell the food as soon as they left the elevator and their mouths watered.

"Hey, we're back," JJ greeted the others as she walked into the conference room. Greetings were exchanged and they took the seats that had been left for them. Ed sat between Mustang and Ziva while the rest of the group took the remaining available seats. The only person missing from the group was Vance, who had been unable to join them due to a prior engagement – at least according to Ziva when Ed asked where the director was.

"I hope you all enjoy the food. Dig in,' Ziva said when Gibbs pointedly look at her and then the covered dishes in the center of the table. No one hesitated after she spoke. Ed grabbed a little of everything while Ziva explained what was what to everyone.

Conversation was light, everyone mostly asking Ed and the three women what they'd been up to during the day. Ed left most of the discussion to the others, too busy enjoying everything on his plate. Ziva seemed pleased by his enjoyment whenever he tried anything knew, like the Ptitim or the chicken albondigas tentatively before digging into the rest of it with vigor. He was just trying the falafel when he heard his name. Looking up he realised it was Rossi who was talking to him.

"Sorry, what?" he asked after he finished his current mouthful.

"I asked if you had fun today. You were being pretty quiet over there," Rossi repeated his question.

"Oh, yeah! It was awesome seeing how different shops here are. You guys sell so many more varieties of the same stuff than we do. Plus, the movie was amazing! I hope Amestris catches up technologically to this dimension soon. I think it will be incredible when we have movies too! I am sorry for not answering more questions, but the food is just really good!" he smiled sheepishly and Ziva flushed a little at the praise.

"You're lucky Fullmetal heard you at all," Mustang teased. "Good food seems to capture all of his focus." This time Ed did retaliate by stamping on his foot with his automail one. Though he was nice enough to not put all of his strength behind it (just enough for Mustang to get the point). The growl the flame alchemist gave him told Ed he had.

"I'm glad you're enjoying my food," Ziva said, smiling with pleasure at their obvious enjoyment. Ed grinned back before digging into his serving, though he did pay more attention to the conversation than he had previously.

"You're an excellent cook, Agent David," Mustang complimented her and she smiled at him. "I'd ask for recipes, but I doubt I'd do these dishes any justice."

Ed couldn't pass up on the opening. "Yeah, I heard last time Mustang was allowed in a kitchen, he burnt the water he was boiling." No one could suppress their laughter when Mustang made an indignant noise.

"Who told you that?" he demanded.

"Elysia. Gracia backed her up after she finished laughing," Ed told him and had the pleasure of witnessing Mustang turn red with embarrassment.

"Who're Gracia and Elysia?" McGee asked and Ed looked over at him while Mustang was still trying to regain his composure.

"Mustang's best friend's wife and daughter," Ed replied. "My brother Al and I have been living with them since the Promised Day, and Elysia thinks of us as her big brothers."

"I don't think I like the fact that you're staying with them anymore," Mustang muttered as he dug back into his ptitim.

"I don't think I care," Ed replied as he tried some of the mangal meats that were offered when the plate came around again. Ziva and Reid (who was sitting on Mustang's other side) snickered.

The rest of the night passed with pleasant conversation and laughter as the three teams swapped stories. Abby had appeared a few minutes after they started eating, although she left for a few minutes when her phone chimed to let her know some of her test results had come in. She came back fifteen minutes later, after emailing the results to the agent-in-charge, just in time for some dessert that Ziva and Ducky had collaborated on.

Somehow, they got into a rhythm of storytelling. The BAU would tell them about a case, then NCIS, and then either Ed or Mustang. Over the course of the evening, they heard about the Zodiac Killer copycat, the woman who paralyzed her victims and turned them into life-sized dolls, and the comic book writer who blacked out and hunted down his fiancée's killers. The NCIS team told them about the military chaplain who had kidnapped and married multiple women before killing them when they were unable to fulfill his idealized fantasy of what a wife should be, the Navy K-9 handler whom everyone thought had been killed by his own dog (although apparently the dog now belongs to McGee), and the NCIS agent friend of Abby's who had been killed trying to get a painting to her.

Mustang told them about a few cases he had worked before he became strapped to his desk. Ed listened intently once he realised these were missions he hadn't heard about and had to laugh at any of the ones that involved Hughes. Any time Hughes was involved, the officer had always "magically" timed his appearances for after the alchemic fights were over. Ed, when it came to be his turn, told them about Father Cornello and how he'd tricked Yoki into selling him ownership of a town that he'd swindled the townsfolk out of, and how he'd then restored the town to its citizens. He finished telling them how Yoki had walked in on him having dinner in the newly repaired inn to complain the gold he'd been given was coal when Mustang shook his head.

"I feel like I shouldn't be surprised you lied on that report. I knew it read too well," he sighed and Ed flashed him a shit-eating grin.

"If you knew half the shit I 'forgot' to put in my reports, you'd have to court-martial me and kick me out of the military."

"I don't ever want to know. I can only imagine the paperwork that would go with it…and don't tempt me on that court-martial, brat. You've given me more than enough reason over the years." His comment caused Ed and a few of the agents to laugh, but this time he didn't seem to mind. They exchanged more stories until Gibbs realised that it was nearly midnight.

"Go home, or back to the hotel and get some sleep while none of us have a case," he ordered and received agreement from Hotch and Rossi. Ziva was glad to see that she wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up leftovers, since between the three teams they'd devoured every scrap of food. Everyone helped her stack her dishes and carry them down to car as they left.

"Thanks, everyone," Ziva said as they finished loading the dishes in her car. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Ed looked at all the dishes and frowned. "Will you be alright unloading all of that? Do you want us to help you?"

She gave him a grateful smile but shook her head. "No, it's okay, Edward. Tony and McGee are going to follow me home and help me unload everything before they go back to their apartments for the night." Both NCIS agents nodded and gave him a thumbs up to indicate they had it under control.

"Okay. Thank you for dinner, Ziva. It was delicious." He looked over at Ducky. "The dessert you made was really yummy as well, Doctor Mallard."

"Yes, both dinner and dessert were delightful. Thank you," Mustang agreed, his observation echoed by everyone else. Ziva and Ducky assured them that it hadn't been any trouble and they split up, heading for their own vehicles.

Before he knew it, they were at the hotel and parked. JJ and Prentiss were going to hold onto Ed's gifts for now and he shook his head at them but didn't argue. They exchanged goodnights and went to their rooms. Ed beat Mustang into the shower by simply getting there before the older man could even ask. By the time Mustang emerged from the shower, Ed was curled up in his bed with a book he'd borrowed from Reid.

"What are you reading?" Mustang asked and Ed's golden eyes flicked upwards to meet his before returning to the book.

"It's called War and Peace by a Russian author named Leo Tolstoy. Reid loaned it to me." Mustang snatched the book out of the boy's hands, ignored the angry yell, and flipped it over so he could read the page Ed was on. Except…he couldn't read it. The book wasn't written in any language he could read.

"Are you even able to read that?" Mustang asked, handing Ed the book. The teen snatched it and glared murder at him.

"Of course I can read it! Reid said this was Russian, but it's similar enough to Drachmann for me to figure it out," he growled and settled back into his blankets to keep reading.

Mustang shook his head. He hadn't even known that Edward knew Drachmann. Utilising a skill he'd perfected during the Ishvalan Civil War, when a soldier had to get whatever sleep they could under any circumstances, Mustang drifted off to sleep despite the light and the occasional whisper of paper as Ed turned the page.

When Mustang woke up the next morning, he noted the time first. Groaning as he realised that the clock showed that it was only seven a.m., he rolled over and had to suppress a grin at the sight that met his eyes. Ed was still in the same position he'd been in the night before, but now he was fast asleep, with a finger between the pages of his book to mark his spot. His golden hair was splayed over his face and his flesh hand was tucked up under his cheek. Mustang was always surprised at how much younger he looked when he slept.

Dragging himself out of bed, he went through his normal morning routine, trying to be as quiet as possible so he didn't wake Ed up. He knew the kid was still tired from all of the alchemy he'd performed over the past few days and that he was still catching up on sleep he'd been denying himself in Amestris. He also knew that Ed would be the one who figure out a way to get them up into the portal, likely using alchemy somehow, so he was willing to let him sleep in. It didn't hurt that if he was asleep, he wouldn't be able to sass Mustang. He decided against the coffee in the room so he didn't wake the blond up with its scent. Based on Ed's reputation, he was willing to swear that the kid was part coffee-hound. He'd just left the room to try and find coffee somewhere else when he ran into Rossi.

"Oh, I was just coming to see if the two of you were awake yet," Rossi explained.

Mustang shrugged. "Well, I am. Fullmetal is still asleep and I'd like him to stay that way for a little while longer."

"That's fine. We don't need to be at NCIS for a little while anyway. What are you doing up though?" Rossi asked.

"Looking for coffee. If Fullmetal smells it, he'll wake up."

"Well, you're in luck. I was just about to head over to a nearby coffee shop to get the rest of the team's coffees, but I wanted to check to see if you or Edward were awake before I left. You're welcome to join me," he offered.

Mustang took him up on it. Despite the fact that it was barely seven-thirty in the morning, the coffee shop was packed. The workers were doing their best to keep up with the customers, but it was just barely enough. Most of the customers seemed to realise it and were happy enough to wait, but there were a few who muttered under their breath about the long wait. Rossi and Mustang eventually reached the front of the queue and Rossi placed his order with Mustang's tacked on. After they paid, they joined the crowd who were also waiting for their orders. They got their order and were back at the hotel by eight o'clock, much to the delight of the other BAU members who were eagerly awaiting their caffeine fix.

Ed woke up slowly and blearily. The first thing he remembered was that he was reading before nodding off and immediately checked the book. Happy to see that it was still in good condition, he noted the page number he was on and sat up. The second thing he remembered was Mustang annoying him before they'd gone to bed. He looked over at the second bed and saw that it was empty. The bathroom door was open and when he sat up, he could see that the kitchen/living room area was also abandoned, so he assumed that Mustang had been awake for a bit and had either joined the BAU team or was at NCIS already. A glance at the clock told him that it was only eight-fifteen.

He groaned as he stood, stretching until he felt all of his bones crack and pop into place and went to take a shower. When he emerged twenty minutes later, he quickly packed all of his stuff up and put on his Amestrian clothes. Brushing and braiding his hair, he placed the brush he'd borrowed from JJ on top of his clothing so he wouldn't have to dig it out. He left the bag on a chair and headed out of the room only to have JJ appear right in front of him, her fist raised to knock on the door.

"What's up?" he asked once they both recovered from their surprise.

"Not much. I came to see if you were up or not." She pushed a cup of coffee into his hand. "I guess you answered my question. General Mustang said if you smelled coffee, you'd wake up. I figured it was a safer way to wake you up than shaking your shoulder like I did last time." He blushed a little bit, remembering how, on his previous visit, she'd touched him when he'd been coming out of a deep sleep and he'd reacted badly. He'd ended up with his automail blade pointed at her throat before he'd realised who it was.

"Well, he ain't wrong," Edward admitted, wanting to move past the memory. He took a sip of coffee and nodded appreciatively. It was good coffee. He followed JJ back down the hallway to one of the other rooms. Inside were Mustang, Rossi, and Prentiss. "Yo. Where's everyone else?" he asked as he continued to sip his coffee and leaned against the wall.

"Already at NCIS. Garcia needs to pack up her equipment, so Morgan's helping with that. Director Vance requested Hotch and Reid to meet with him this morning so that they could work out an official report to give to Section Chief Strauss," JJ told him, sitting down next to Emily on the bed. "We're going back to the office almost as soon as you go home," she added and Ed made a noise of acknowledgement. They were pretty quiet, everyone slipping at their coffee before Mustang finally stood up.

"I'm going to go and pack my things," he said, looking at Ed pointedly. Ed ignored him in favour of taking another sip of his coffee. Mustang cleared this throat pointedly.

"All my crap's packed, Mustang, so stop staring at me," Ed said after a few moments, causing Prentiss and JJ to giggle and Rossi to smirk into his coffee. Mustang rolled his eyes but left. Ed finished his coffee and followed Mustang, tossing the cup into the bin on his way out. He snatched his bag off the chair while Mustang gathered the last of his things and shrugged his military jacket back on. They did a final once over of the room before leaving and meeting the others. Ed returned JJ's brush to her but held onto Reid's book. He wanted to finish it before they returned to Amestris, if he could.

The drive to NCIS went quicker than it usually did, but Ed gave the credit for that to him having something to do instead of staring out the windows. By the time they passed through the security checkpoint - hopefully for the last time – unloaded themselves from the car and headed into the building, it was just a few minutes past ten o'clock. DiNozzo, Ziva, and McGee were all at their desks, but their team leader wasn't anywhere in sight. Ed couldn't see Hotch or the rest of the BAU team either.

"Morning!" Tony greeted them, prompting everyone else to exchange greetings.

"Where is everyone?" Ed asked the agent who'd greeted them first.

"Gibbs and their bossman," Tony gestured to the BAU agents, "are in a meeting with Vance. I think Garcia dragged Morgan down to cyber to pack all her gear up, and I'm not sure about Agent Reid."

Ziva rolled her eyes. "Agent Reid went with Gibbs and Agent Hotchner to talk to Director Vance," she told them.

"That's right," Tony said, snapping his fingers. "Agent Hotchner said something about the kid's crazy memory being of help." He stood and stretched. "I was just about to head down to check on Moore if any of you want to come with," he offered. Ed and Mustang immediately nodded, and Rossi decided to come along with them after exchanging a look with JJ and Prentiss. Ed had a feeling that decision had something to do with the fact that he'd knocked Moore out before.

Ed couldn't believe his eyes when he was taken into the observation room. There was a little computer set up to record and monitor the interrogation room but it was unmanned and dark so Ed assumed it also wasn't on. But that wasn't what had Ed so stunned: that honour went to Moore himself.

Moore was both cleaner and more disheveled than when Ed had last seen him. It was obvious someone had thrown him into a shower and he was now wearing a set of NCIS sweats, similar to what had been loaned to Ed when he'd arrived. But his hair was lanky and greasy, his skin was pale and haggard, and his eyes were both bloodshot and crazed. His whole demeanor reminded Ed of a caged animal ready to strike at anyone who came near. Ed could see the cast and bandages were clean, so he assumed Ducky had been in to offer medical assistance. But the thing that Ed found most unbelievable was that Moore wasn't making a sound.

"Yeah, he actually yelled himself hoarse," DiNozzo said with a chuckle when Ed asked. Ed couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up, and Mustang looked equally amused.

"Are you for real?" Ed asked. "That's fucking great! He complained so much he lost his voice!" Ed cackled and they heard a faint growl coming from the other side of the glass. Ed looked at Moore who was doing his best to snarl and looked up at DiNozzo.

"McGee messed around with the intercom over there so it's on all the time now. He can hear whoever is in this room and we can hear him. Or we could until he lost his voice. He also patched the cameras through to his computer so we could keep an eye on him without having to leave someone stationed in here constantly." Another growl came from the room. Ed snorted.

"You sound like a demented rabbit; knock it off," Ed told him and Moore recoiled at the insult. "It's not our fault you're locked in there. If you'd just accepted your brother was a scumbag who got what was coming to him, you wouldn't be in this mess, and most importantly, neither would we."

"You'll get what's coming to you for murdering my brother," Moore's harsh, croaky voice snarled, and Ed simply sighed.

"Stop talking. You sound like a three-year-old trying to be a demon," he told him before heading for the door. Once they were out in the hallway, he shook his head. "Glad to see his time in there hasn't affected his level of crazy," he said sarcastically.

"Why must you stir up every criminal you come across?" Mustang asked, letting out a long-suffering sigh.

"For shits and giggles," Ed deadpanned. He glanced at a clock hanging on the wall. "We've got an hour and a half before Al's supposed to open up the portal. Do we need to do anything before that?" he asked the agents, who shook their heads.

"No, I don't think so," Rossi said as they returned to the bullpen. Ed snatched up his novel from his bag and sat down in the first empty chair he saw, found his page, and started reading, ignoring the rest of the world.

"Does he know he's in Gibbs' chair?" DiNozzo whispered to the others as he sat down at his own desk. He sounded a little afraid for Ed. Mustang shrugged.

"Probably not," he said, sounding unconcerned. "Just leave him alone. Disturbing his reading when you're not Alphonse is not a good idea." The agents all hesitated, before turning away to do their own thing. Twenty minutes later, Gibbs, Hotch, Reid, and Vance came down from the Director's office. Vance and Gibbs looked bemused to see Ed sitting at Gibbs' desk. Gibbs' team weren't the only ones who were anxious to see what Gibbs was going to do about it. To their surprise, Reid was the first one to move.

"Oh, hey! You've gotten really far in that in just a night! What do you think of Tolstoy's work?" Reid asked Ed excitedly as he headed over to the desk. Mustang's jaw dropped when all Ed did was look up and smile at the interruption.

"He's really good! It's a fascinating read. I normally don't like fictional works, but this is just so well written. I can see why it's a classic," Ed told him. "I mean, it took a little bit for me to translate the wording, but Russian is pretty similar to Drachmann, so I had it worked out in no time."

Reid looked thrilled, but before they could begin talking about the book in depth, Gibbs cleared his throat and looked pointedly at his desk. Ed looked back at him for a moment before shrugging and heading over to the spare desk next to McGee's with Reid so they could talk about the book.

"Disturbing his reading when you're not Alphonse or Doctor Reid is not a good idea," Mustang amended his previous statement, much to the amusement of the others.

As the time drew nearer to the moment when Al would attempt to open the portal again, everyone grew a little more agitated. Ed was still nose-deep in War and Peace, but he was bouncing his right leg, a clear sign of his nervousness. Mustang and the others made attempts at small talk, but the conversations always fizzled out after a few exchanges. Finally, Ed put his book down and looked at Mustang.

"At what time did you send that note?"

"Near noon," Mustang reminded him and Ed shook his head.

"No, I mean the exact time. You can bet that one of your team – probably Captain Hawkeye – checked their watch once Al had read that note out loud so they knew what time to open the portal again. I'm not going to risk Al, Teacher, and whoever else is helping holding that portal open for longer than absolutely necessary," Ed snapped and Mustang paled a little at what Ed was implying.

"I don't know. I didn't check the time before I sent the note. I only saw the time when I got back in the car," Mustang admitted and Ed's golden eyes flashed dangerously.

"Mustang sent the note at eleven-forty-nine. We should prepare for the portal to open at eleven-fifty," Reid spoke up and Ed looked at him.

"At least someone was paying attention," he grouched and Mustang really wanted to point out how ironic it was that Ed was saying that. "It's nearly eleven o'clock now. We should go and get Moore at eleven-forty. It'll give us enough time to drag him the whole way into the parking lot if he decides to be difficult," Ed said decisively. No one bothered to argue with or question him. Once he realised there were no forthcoming comments or arguments, Ed went back to his book.

At eleven-thirty, everyone started moving. Reid got Ed's attention again, after everyone agreed that he was probably the only one who could without risking getting a bone broken. The Director had gone back up to his office after Ed had moved chairs but had come back down with them so he could say goodbye to the BAU and the two alchemists. Finally, DiNozzo, Morgan, and Ziva had disappeared to go and get Moore. The rest of them headed down to the parking lot, where they found Ducky and Abby waiting for them. Abby immediately swept Ed up into a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you!" she sniffled as she felt him hug her back. "It's been so much fun learning all about you and your world." Her voice was more than a little watery.

"I'll miss you too, Abby. Thank you for everything you taught me," he said sincerely, not at all surprised when she didn't release him just yet. She sniffled once more before letting him go and latching on to a very surprised Mustang. Ed laughed at him before he found himself in another hug, this time from Ducky. It was quick and Ed barely had time to give the older man a return hug before he was released.

"You take care of yourself, young man. Don't get yourself too hurt," he lectured, pointing a finger at the teen.

"Thanks for patching me up, Doctor Mallard. I can't promise you that, though. I always seem to get sent on missions that result in me dealing with stupid criminals who refuse to surrender," Ed laughed. Ducky, however, didn't seem very impressed or reassured.

"Don't worry Doctor Mallard. Edward's brother will be joining him on future missions and he is by far the more mature and responsible of the two," Mustang assured Ducky once Abby had let go of him. Ed flipped him off, but Ducky seemed appeased by Mustang's words.

"If you two ever find yourself in this world again, don't hesitate to come and see us," Ducky told them and Abby nodded enthusiastically.

"You have to promise that you'll see us if you end up back here," she demanded and Ed laughed at how serious she was.

"I promise," he said. Anything else that was going to be said was forgotten as Moore, Ziva, DiNozzo, and Morgan appeared. As Ed thought, Moore was being difficult. DiNozzo and Morgan were literally dragging the man while Ziva brought up the rear. Despite the fact that Moore had damaged his voice, he was now screaming bloody murder.

"YOU CAN'T SEND ME BACK WITH THEM! THEY'LL KILL ME JUST LIKE THEY DID MY BROTHER! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! LET ME GO NOW!" he screeched, but no one paid him any attention. DiNozzo and Morgan both looked two seconds away from punching him though. Moore's eyes found Mustang and Ed. "YOU TWO! YOU'RE TO BLAME FOR THIS!" he screamed and, before anyone could react, was running flat out at the two alchemists.

DiNozzo and Morgan had obviously not expected the sudden change in pace as they both nearly fell over as Moore wrenched himself out of their grip. Mustang's hand was in his jacket pocket, pulling out his ignition glove and slipping it on in a swift practiced move. He raised his hand to snap, but Edward stood in his way. Bracing himself as Moore charged him like a crazed lunatic, Edward brought his right arm up and, in one clean sweep, smashed his elbow into Moore's jaw, sending the would-be alchemist sprawling to the ground, howling as the pain from his now-broken jaw registered.

"Good job," Mustang said as he moved past the blond to haul Moore back to his feet. The man was now crying in an ugly fashion, trying to cradle his jaw as best as he could, drool escaping since he couldn't fully close his jaws. Ducky went to step forward but Ed stopped him.

"We'll get him into a hospital in Amestris. The portal's about to open so you don't have time to do anything," he told him. Ducky clearly didn't like it, but he knew Edward was right, so he stepped back.

JJ, Reid, and Prentiss disappeared momentarily and reappeared a minute later with Ed and Mustang's bags. Ed accepted his, throwing the duffel over his shoulder and sticking his hand through the handle of the shopping bag. He looked at Mustang before accepting his bag, deciding he had his hands full enough as it was.

"Three minutes," Reid said and everyone seemed to go still for a moment before Mustang and Ed walked over to where the portal would open above them. Mustang had to drag Moore, who was now mumbling unintelligibly, tears still streaming down his cheeks. Everyone came up one or two at a time to say their goodbyes.

"It was a wonderfully unexpected surprise, and I almost hope you get to come back one day," JJ said as she hugged both alchemists. Prentiss said almost the exact same thing when she hugged them.

"I hope you enjoy everything we got you. Some of the stuff in there is for Alphonse as well. Some of the stuff is things you can share with everyone," Garcia said as she hugged them goodbye, her eyes filling with tears, not even trying to pretend that she wasn't crying. Ed was surprised at how emotional everyone was getting. At the surprised look on his face, she punched him lightly on the shoulder. "We're going to miss you, you idiot! You're a part of our weird little family!" she scolded him.

"I'm…glad to be part of your family, Miss Penelope," he told her, laughing a little. The sincerity in his voice made Garcia cry a little harder.

"You can keep War and Peace, and I put a few more books in your bag that I thought you'd like," Reid said. He hesitated before hugging Ed, who returned it. "It was surreal seeing you two. It was nice having someone to talk to without worrying if I was boring them," he admitted.

"I learned a lot from you, Reid. I'm glad we got to talk again." Reid grinned before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a familiar bag. Ed grabbed it and slipped it into one of his own pockets. "Thanks for holding onto that for me," he added. Reid nodded before moving to shake Mustang's hand.

"You and your weird science-magic can come back anytime, kid," Morgan grinned, ruffling Ed's hair as the boy scowled. Morgan pulled him into a brief hug. "I'm serious," he added as he pulled away and Ed grinned.

"I have to say, it was a real trip meeting you two and learning about everything," DiNozzo said as he shook Ed' and then Mustang's hands. "Make sure to hit us up if you're ever back in America. There's plenty of good old American foods I didn't get to introduce you to," he winked at Ed, who laughed before DiNozzo was shoulder-barged out of the way by Ziva.

"Don't listen to that idiot. American food isn't that great," she said before enveloping Ed in a hug. "Thank you for saving me. Next time you're here, I'll cook even more food for you," she promised and Ed squeezed her back.

"Sounds like a plan, Miss Ziva," he smiled before she turned to Mustang, promising him food as well. McGee came up next and offered his hand. "Sorry for scaring you with that array in cyber." McGee winced at the memory.

"Yeah, that was no fun. If we see each other again, you should try not to do that again," McGee half-joked and Ed grinned shaking his hand.

"See you around, kiddo," Rossi smiled when he came up with Hotch. Ed shook his hand, thanking them.

"Next time you decide to visit, why don't you leave the homicidal alchemist back in Amestris? I think I'd like to see the two of you without one of them running around," Hotch said, completely straight-faced, but the amusement in his eyes ruined it.

"We'll do our best," Mustang told him, shaking Hotch's hand.

"Thanks for coming down here so quickly when I turned up," Ed said, showing the tiniest bit of vulnerability. He had no clue how he would've been able to contact them. Probably would've done something stupid, like taken off.

"Of course. Just remember to call Garcia if you ever find yourself back here again," Hotch told him and Ed nodded before grasping Hotch's hand.

"The portal should be opening up any minute now," Reid said. Hotch headed back over to the group, who all moved a few more steps away.

"It was certainly an experience, meeting the two of you," Gibbs said, catching both of the alchemist's eyes. "Like everyone has said, if you ever find yourself back here, give us a ring. We'll come find you," he told them. Both of them nodded.

"It was a pleasure meeting the both of you. I am glad NCIS was able to assist the two of you and the BAU in hunting down the fugitive. If we don't see you again, I hope everything on your end works out," Vance said.

"Thank you, Director Vance, for offering us somewhere to stay and for letting your agents help us locate and apprehend Moore." Mustang saluted him and Ed barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Vance saluted back.

"Since Truth is a dick, this could possibly happen, but if you ever find yourselves in Amestris, hit us up. Find the closest military person and tell them you need to see the Fullmetal Alchemist as soon as possible. Throw Mustang's name in there if you have to. Ask them to get you to Central City. They'll get word to us and we'll find you," Edward told them before grinning. "It'd give us a chance to pay you back for everything," he said just before he felt the air above him become overloaded with alchemic energy.

Both he and Mustang looked up and saw the sky above them waiver. Moore struggled to get away again, but Mustang held him firm. Neither of them moved until the portal cleared up and they could see the warehouse ceiling on the other side. Ed's gaze found Alphonse immediately and his brother gave a relieved grin. He saw Izumi and Armstrong kneeling next to the portal, providing the portal with the extra power it needed.

"You good?" Ed asked Mustang, who nodded and tightened his grip on Moore. Both of them looked back at the group of friends they were leaving behind and Ed waved before clapping his hands and pressing them to the asphalt. The array activated and transmuted a pillar of stone to lift them up and through the portal. The moment they crossed the boundary, they felt like they'd taken a dip in ice water.

Hawkeye was there immediately, pulling Mustang and Moore off of the pillar. Ed concentrated and sent another surge of alchemic energy through the pillar before leaping off to land outside the array. The alchemic energy raced down the pillar to the parking lot below, where the pillar sank back down and merged with the asphalt, leaving the ground pristine and in perfect repair once again.

The agents all stood there waving up at the portal until it closed for good, leaving behind only a clear blue sky.

"Do you think that we'll ever see the two of them again?" Garcia wondered.

"It's hard to know, baby girl," Morgan replied. "We never expected to see them after what happened in New York, but then they turned up here."

"We just need to make sure that we don't let anyone else find out about Amestris," Hotch said quietly. "General Mustang told me they've done everything in their power to keep our world under wraps – we need to do the same thing for them."

"Brother!" Alphonse called, racing for Ed the moment the portal was closed and tackling him to the ground in a huge hug. "You're okay!" he cried as Ed returned his brother's hug.

"I'm back. I'm okay," he reassured his little brother, who was now crying into his injured shoulder. It caused Ed a little bit of pain, but he didn't care. He was so glad to be home, so happy to see and hold his brother again. He watched over his brother's head as Izumi was fussed over by Sig and felt a wave of relief that she and Armstrong were alright. The other State Alchemist used his own alchemy to send a crack through the array on the ground, breaking its outer circle so it couldn't be used again.

Mustang was being greeted by his team. He got a clap on the shoulder from everyone and a stern yet relieved look from Hawkeye as he handed Moore over to Havoc and Falman with instructions that he be taken to the hospital immediately for treatment and placed in the secure wing under military guard.

"We'll have to speak to Grumman about what charges he'll be facing, but it should at the very least be two counts of attempted murder against State Alchemists," Mustang was saying. "Once we have a warrant and charges from the Führer, we can arrange to have him transferred to Central Prison until his trial date. Once you've delivered him to the hospital, meet us back at the office for a debrief."

Al looked up at that. "Actually, General, when I told Miss Gracia that you would be home today she insisted on having the entire team over for dinner tonight. She wasn't budging on that." He looked back up at Edward. "Elysia was really mad that you left without saying goodbye, even when we told her you were on a classified mission for Führer Grumman and had to leave immediately." He looked back at Mustang. "And she was really upset that you haven't come to visit her. She said 'it's been way too long since Uncle Roy has been over for dinner'."

"Very well. We'll meet at Gracia's apartment then," Mustang said. The other two officers nodded and hauled Moore out of the room, ignoring his mumbling and struggles. Everyone else in the room made their way over to the Elric brothers.

"Are the two of you alright?" Edward ask Izumi and Armstrong as Al continued to cling to him.

"Exhausted but I'm fine," Izumi said, leaning on Sig a little more than normal.

"I, too, am alright," Armstrong boomed. "I am pleased that you and the Brigadier General made it back unharmed," he told them joyfully.

"Well…I wouldn't say unharmed," Mustang said slyly, a knowing look on his face as he glanced at Edward.

"I hate you so much," Edward hissed as Alphonse abruptly pulled back.

"You're hurt? How badly? Where?" he asked, already going into full mother-hen mode as Ed glared daggers at a now-smirking Mustang.

"I'm fine, Alphonse," Ed said, soothingly. "There was a doctor this time who patched me up. I just got a few stitches and a lot of bruising," he promised as Al looked like he wasn't sure if he should believe him and his eyes racked up and down Ed's body like he had x-ray vision and could see his injures. "The only truly painful part of this whole thing was listening to Mustang repeatedly claim how good it was to be away from all of his paperwork," Ed said, his eyes flicking up to Mustang as a shit-eating grin tugged at his lips.

"Really? How…interesting…" Hawkeye said, her eyes burning holes into Mustang's head as the man glared at Ed with all the intensity he could muster.

"You're really okay?" Al said in a tiny voice, and Ed's focus came back to him, even though he kinda wanted to watch Mustang try and convince Hawkeye it wasn't true.

"I really am," he swore and Al finally seemed to believe him. The rest of Mustang's team seemed to take this as permission to come over and welcome Ed back, clapping him on his automail shoulder and back when he flinched away from Breda trying to touch his left shoulder.

"You little idiot!" Izumi hissed as she wrapped Ed up in one of her rare hugs. "You went and worried everyone! Don't you dare do that again!" she scolded him and Ed nodded.

"I'll do my best," he promised as he hugged her back before she released him and smacked him over the back of the head, which earned her a yelp and a sheepish look. Sig clapped one meaty hand on his automail shoulder and rumbled his own welcome back. Armstrong tried to take his shirt off from all of the joy he was feeling but Ross and Brosh managed to get him to keep it on between taking turns saying hello to Edward and saluting Mustang as their superior officer.

Edward was certainly going to miss all of the friends he made in America but looking around the warehouse as Izumi glared at him while Sig looked at her lovingly, as Hawkeye stared at Mustang coolly while he tried to convince her Ed was lying, as Ross and Brosh alternated between trying to keep Armstrong from ripping off his shirt and running away from his hugs as the tearful giant expressed his happiness, as Mustang's team watched all of this in amusement, and as Al looked at him with joy that he was back…Ed knew that he wouldn't give this up for anything even if he did have a worried Elysia, a very worried Winry, and a very worried Gracia to confront still.

"Mustang, give up! She's not going to believe you!" he hollered at him, causing the black-haired alchemist to glare at him again while Hawkeye's attention shifted to Edward and she gave him an amused and relieved smirk.

"It's good to have you home, Edward," she said, shooting him a warm smile and Ed returned it.

"Yeah, I'm glad to be back. Let's head over to Gracia's now. We'll tell you everything that happened this time," Ed said, grinning as he adjusted the bag he was still carrying, Breda and Fuery having taken the other two bags from him so he wouldn't have to carry all of them. He followed everyone out of the warehouse, Al refusing to leave his side and clinging to his automail arm and smiled as he felt the Amestrian sun on his skin.

Yup, he was glad to be home.

A/N- The final revised chapter of Alchemist meet Agents, Again! Many, many thanks to the unbelievably awesome PhoenixQueen who busted her arse revising these chapters for me! AMA1 will be updated as well sometime in the next couple of weeks so the timeline is fixed before I work on Welcome to Amestris, Agents to get the time line for it matching the rest. As I said, the Voltron/FMA story I've written is being revised by PhoenixQueen next so she'll be fixing it's time line for me because she is amazing and wonderful and a blessing to this world and myself. I hope you all enjoyed the revised version of this story and I would love to hear what you thought to it!