AN: The Promised Day has passed, but Alphonse is still a suit of armor and Edward's limbs are still automail. It shall be explained. Ish.
Edward glared at the museum display. Why was he here, again? Oh, yeah.
Because Havoc thought he'd been spending too much time in the library lately and had decided that "If you're going to learn, you can at least go somewhere normal people go to do it."
"Come on, Brother, it's not that bad," Alphonse said, peering at a glass case full of outdated medical supplies.
"Right," Edward said, rolling his eyes. "And I'm not researching how to get your body back because…?"
Alphonse sighed and shook his head. "Because you're taking a break. It's important to rest, Brother. Your mind needs it as much as your body does. If you overwork yourself, you won't be able to come up with any new ideas."
"Hmm," Ed said, halfway interested in something.
"Are you even listening to me?" Alphonse asked, exasperated.
"Mm, yeah. New ideas. Like this." Ed squatted on the ground, caught up in his examination of the metal before him.
Alphonse turned to see what had caught his brother's eye and froze, his soul-eyes widening in shock and horror.
"Brother," he said quietly, "Get away from that."
Edward looked over his shoulder, frowning. "Why?" He asked. "It's just an outdated...whatever it is." He rapped firmly on the metal slope, the sound of metal on metal clashing dully in the nearly empty museum room.
"Please, Brother," Alphonse said weakly. "Don't do that."
Edward glanced at the thing again, but shrugged. "Okay, sure," he said. Edward stood back up, glancing idly around at the exhibits. "Let's go to the Ancient Cretian exhibit. That one at least sounds interesting."
"Sure, yeah," Alphonse said quickly, casting an anxious glance at the thing. "Let's go, Brother," he muttered as they moved.
"Time...Lord…"
Alphonse froze.
"Huh?" Ed asked, turning back toward the room. "Al, that wasn't you, was it?"
"Time...Lord...technology...detected."
"Edward?" Alphonse asked, his voice shaking with fear.
Ed looked at his brother, then at the metal thing in the middle of the room.
"Yeah?" He asked carefully.
"Run."
Edward ran. He didn't stop to think or question Alphonse's judgement, just sprinted for the exit as quickly as he could, weaving swiftly between exhibits with the practiced ease of a fighter used to rubble and destruction.
"Exterminate!" A jet of blue light shot into a case, exploding loudly.
"What the hell?!" Edward cried, throwing a glance over his shoulder in surprise.
"Just run, Brother!" Alphonse cried, clunking along behind his brother as another jet of blue light hit a display case, sending glass shards flying through the room.
"Okay, Alphonse," Edward panted, leaning with his hands on his knees, "What- the crap- just happened?"
"I'd like to know that as well," Colonel Mustang said, watching the Elrics pant in front of his office door. "I get a call from a museum, of all places, telling me that there is some sort of terrorist attack just as you show up. Care to explain?" The rest of the officers stared in surprise at the boys, save Hawkeye.
She simply frowned at them before signing another sheet of paper.
Alphonse frowned, glancing anxiously around the room. "That thing is what's called a Dalek. Right now, it's after us."
A distant explosion sounded, making the armored soul flinch.
"And why couldn't we just attack it?" Edward asked.
"Conventional methods don't work on it." Alphonse pulled a piece of chalk out of his pocket and began drawing quickly on the wall as he spoke.
Ed snorted. "Since when have I been known for conventional?"
Alphonse shook his head anxiously, still drawing. "Your methods wouldn't work. It has a sort of alchemic barrier around it that protects it from attacks. Alchemy might work on it, but I don't know what it's made of, and by the time you got close enough to find out, you'd be dead anyway." He finished the circle and pressed his hand to it, making light flash around the room as more explosions sounded and shouting echoed in Central Command.
"What did you just do, Alphonse?" Mustang asked, pulling on his gloves swiftly.
"I bought us some time. Brother, I need you to open your watch."
"My watch?" Edward blinked, "How come?"
"It- it's got-" A louder explosion sounded and the room shook, causing Edward to stumble. "It's got a code that will help you understand what's going on!" Alphonse cried, thinking quickly.
"How would a code help us?" Ed asked. "Shouldn't we be getting ready to fight?"
"No!" Alphonse cried. "Just open the watch!" He yelled hysterically as a WOOSH, WOOSH, WOOSH! filled the air.
Edward looked at his brother for a moment, then nodded shortly. When this was over, he was going to force an explanation out of the armor, but for now Ed would comply.
He pulled out his watch, snapped it open, and-
"Freeze. Don't move another inch."
Edward obeyed the strange accent and stood stock still, not even daring to look at the watch. Mustang glared at the intruder, wondering how he'd even gotten in.
"Are you the ones who set loose the Dalek?"
Alphonse's gasp was audible. "Are you the Doctor?" He asked desperately.
"My reputation precedes me," The man said. "And you are?"
"I invoke Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation in order to parley with the Doctor." Alphonse spoke quickly, desperately, as screams sounded outside the room. "We did not set loose the Dalek, it detected us and began attacking. Please, please let my brother look at his watch."
The Doctor stood silent for a moment before nodding shortly. "Do it," He commanded.
Edward looked at his watch, and remembered. The terror of the time war. Getting caught in the crossfire, the agony of losing his limbs. His mother hijacking a Battle TARDIS in her last moments, giving her life to get him on board and send him off. Falling through time and space with no idea of where, when, what, he was. Realising that a child with two hearts being found on a human planet would not be safe. Locking away his memories after adjusting the living metal to shift into a suit of the same.
Not being able to get back Alphonse's body on the Promised Day suddenly made a lot more sense.
"Ah." Edward breathed slowly, his mind slowly coming back to him. "What happened to Gallifrey?" He asked the Doctor.
"Gone. How did you survive?"
"My mother stole me a Battle Tardis," Ed said, rapping Alphonse's suit.
"I hate to interrupt your lovely meet and greet, but can you three do this later?" Mustang asked, staring at the door.
"Right, sorry," Ed said. "Alphonse, you know what to do. Time for the big guns."
"Done." Alphonse said, holding his arms out before him as they morphed into a large barrel.
"Colonel- thanks." Edward faced the door, shoulders wide, as the door blasted open, the silver creature before him. "Alphonse, exterminate."
"With pleasure," Alphonse said as he fired.
