Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Iron Man or Fullmetal. Everything you see here is borrowed with love. ;)


Chapter 11 –Home Again

Ed flew through the eerie blackness of the Gate, metal hands clutching Sam's body. He didn't care what Sam had asked of him. If he could help it, he was going to give his friend a proper burial. It was the least he could do.

He flew at peak speed, racing through the black. Up ahead he could see a white dot—the light at the end of the tunnel. He pressed down on the pressure pads in his gloves, impatient to be out of this place.

Laughter jingled in his ear. Ed could feel the black hands of the Gate circling around him and Sam, grabbing at him with their sticky, filmy fingers. Where they latched on to the suit, they slid off again, but where they latched onto Sam, they pulled at his flesh. Ed tugged at them, twisting and kicking to fend them off, to protect what was left of his friend. The laughter rang out, louder this time.

"Let him go, Edward." The face of a laughing child appeared suddenly in front of Ed's face. The black hands tugged harder at Sam. Ed struggled, and a couple of them peeled off, groping in the void. They clawed at his suit, this time sticking to its surface.

"Equivalent exchange, Edward. Let him go, and we will let you pass."

Ed gulped. He couldn't move forward. The hands were holding onto Sam, holding them both back. The light in the distance was getting smaller—the hands were drawing him further away. If he didn't let go now, he knew, it would disappear completely and he would be trapped here, forever, behind the Gate.

Inside his suit's helmet, Ed choked on a sob, knowing he didn't have a choice. With a gasp, he let go of Sam, his heart lurching as he watched the hands devour what remained of his friend's body.

"Goodbye, Sam," Edward whispered. Then, blinking back the tears, he turned for the portal's exit and gunned it.


Edward emerged in a field of green and a brilliant, blue sky. The sun was high on the horizon, golden and shining. Ed landed in the shade of a familiar dead tree and realized instantly where he was.

It was the site of his old family home—the one he and Al had burned to the ground.

Ed drew back his faceplate and surveyed the charred ruins still outlining the house's foundations. Tall grass grew in between the cracked concrete, the bright green hiding much of the black memories that still remained.

Then he remembered how he was here. Sam. His friend was dead. The thought gripped his heart like a vice, making it hard to breathe. Edward fell to his knees and clutched at the grass, allowing the emotion to the surface. In the quiet ruins of his family home, he grieved for his friend's passing.

Long minutes passed before the sobs subsided. Edward was left feeling numb and empty. The ground before him felt far away. He took a few long breaths, attempting to anchor himself in this world. Then he looked up, taking in the familiar sight from the hilltop.

It was beautiful.

New tears gathered in the corner of his eyes, but they weren't tears of loss this time. His golden eyes widened in wonder as the full force of the realization hit him. He had done it. He was home.

Ed rose to his feet and started forward, his sights on the house in the distance—the home of the waiting family. He stopped. He was still in his Iron Man suit. Better that the neighbors didn't see him like this. He charged up the thrusters and flew toward the house in a gentle arch. When he was close enough, he touched down again, just about halfway up the hill to the front door. Den the dog was outside, looking grayer than Ed could remember him looking. The old mutt rose slowly to his feet, barking at the intrusion with a youthfulness that belied his years.

"Hey there, old boy," Edward said, patting the dog on the head with his metal hand. Den seemed a little weary of the suit, but recognized Ed's smell—however different—behind all the metal. He waved his tail happily from side to side, practically trembling in his excitement.

"Who's out there, Den?" came a familiar voice. Ed looked up to see Aunt Pinako standing in the doorway. The old gal looked just the same as he remembered, perhaps with a few more lines on her face. Ed straightened up to greet her.

"Auntie," he said.

"Ed? Is that you?" Pinako seemed flabbergasted by the sight of him. "What on earth are you wearing?" she asked. She turned abruptly and yelled into the house, not even waiting for an answer. "Winry! Come quick! You'll never believe who it is!"

Pinako turned back to Ed, face still slack in shock. She stepped off the front stoop and stopped at Ed's feet.

"Either that suit of yours is compensating, or you've grown some, squirt," Pinako drawled.

Ed's mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe his ears. This was his welcome back home, after years of being trapped on the other side of the Gate? Shorty jokes!?

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE—!" Ed started to bellow.

"Keep it down out there! Some of us need our beauty sleep!" came Winry's angry response. A giant wrench flew out the window of her bedroom toward his head. It caught the lip of his helmet with an audible clang and fell to the ground.

"What the..?" Winry poked her sleep-ruffled head out of her porch door when she heard the sound of metal-on-metal rather than the pained screams of the person who had woken her up.

"Hey, Winry," Ed called.

"Edward?" Winry blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunny day, sure she was seeing things. "I must be dreaming. What are you wearing?"

In her defense, the Iron Man suit wasn't a short cry from some of her more elaborate fantasies.

Pinako grunted, knowing her granddaughter all too well.

"Winry get your lazy butt down here and say hello!"

"That's okay, Auntie, no need." Ed activated his thrusters and lifted off the ground. He made a bit of a show of it, hovering on the lowest setting up to the second floor porch where Winry stood in the doorway, her mouth hanging open. He landed gracefully, the soft metal clunk of his boots hitting the wooden floor of the porch and the gentle rush of engines powering down the only indication that this was not, in fact, one of Winry's fantasies.

"You're really back!" Winry gasped, jolted out of her sleep-addled mind. She threw her arms around Ed, laughing through her tears.

Ed laughed and hugged her back, wishing he didn't have the suit on so that he could hug her properly. Winry, however, didn't seem to mind one bit. She drew back, holding him at arm's length as her sharp mechanical eyes surveyed Ed's getup.

"What is this thing? Ed, it's amazing! Can I take it apart, can I? Can I please?" Winry clasped her hands together and squirmed with excitement.

"Guess I am going to need a mechanic for this thing," Ed said, grinning lopsided at her.

"Eeeeeee!" Winry squealed, twirling around in her excitement. She reached into her pocket and produced an assortment of precision tools up for the job.

"Hang on, Winry, I didn't mean right this second," Edward said, holding up his hands. "Where's Al?"

That snapped Winry out of her frenzy. She calmed down, her excitement forgotten for the moment.

"He's not here," she answered, "He's in Central looking for you."

"Oh…" Edward's smile dropped, disappointed. Then, getting an idea, he pressed a button on his helmet. "Hey Bastard, how long does it take to get to Central from here?" he asked.

"Who are you talking to, Ed?" Winry asked, puzzled.

Ed waved her away as Mustang's voice answered in his ear. "Three hours."

"What if we gun it?" Edward asked.

The AI paused, a crackle of static as his suit recalculated. The voice that answered sounded almost amused. "Breaking all known laws of physics, I can get you there in half that time."

"That's better," Edward said with a sly grin. He turned back to Winry.

"Your suit talks?" she said, her blue eyes wide.

"Of course it talks, it's a comput—" Ed broke off, laughing sheepishly. "That's right, you guys don't have those yet. I guess we have a lot to catch up on," he said, "But later. I got to go."

"Oh…" Winry's smile dropped. She seemed disappointed, but she nodded anyway. "Right, go find Al. But promise me you'll come straight back." Her eyes glittered as she gazed at the contraption Ed was wearing. "You need to let me take this thing apart as soon as possible."

Ed frowned. "I guess I should have expected you to be more interested in the metal parts than the human me," he said.

"Sorry, Ed, it's just…it's such an ingenious piece of work! You know I missed you, right?" Winry's cheeks flushed red just admitting it.

Suddenly the suit felt extremely warm and stuffy. "Uhh, right, I get it." Ed looked away, his own cheeks burning in embarrassment. He laughed, diverting the subject. "Tony would be flattered if he could hear you talking about his suit like this."

"Who's that?" Winry asked, also pretending what just happened hadn't.

"Guy who built the suit. Total genius. You'd have…uh…" Ed broke off, thinking about Tony's inclination toward women. "Never mind." Ed's cheeks burned brighter still as he tried not to think about what Tony would have done in Winry's company. Or vice versa.

"Right, well…" Winry frowned, wondering why Ed had gone so quiet all of a sudden. "You should go. Get Al, come right back."

"Yeah," Edward said, "I will." He powered up the suit, activated the thrusters in his hands. "It was good seeing you, Winry," he said, rising off the ground.

Winry watched, mesmerized, as Ed rose higher into the sky and dropped his faceplate. He hovered above the house for a moment, waving goodbye. Winry broke into a wide smile.

"Bye Ed!" she yelled up at him, waving back enthusiastically.

Ed gave one last wave goodbye and then pivoted in the air, shooting high up into the sky.


Author's Notes:

11.1: Sam's gone. *wipes away tears* Bye, Sam. But Ed's home! Such an emotional ride, this chapter. TT_TT

11.2: I had to put a scene in here with Winry meeting Ed in the suit. This was extremely fun to write, especially the part about Ed imagining what would happen should Winry and Tony ever meet. XD