Older Brother 13, Younger brother 12

Even in a world driven by fact, some things would never have a clear answer as to why they occur. Different theories were thrown out there to explain the phenomena, all ranging in the logic behind it, but not everyone would agree on one. Things such as human creation and death being perfect examples of this, with some believing it was the power of god and others believing it was purely scientific.

The theories behind alphas, betas, and omegas were much like this, thrown out there for those to debate, never having everyone back one theory up despite the evidence presented. Some believed it was the power of god to create a hierarchy, others believed it had to do with the soul and its strength, but Ed followed the scientific theory behind it. The reason why the world was made up of these three classes was because of how they evolved, they didn't break out of the pack mentality and instead had continued to keep their animalistic ways. It was nothing more than genes that made them like this, that's why families with no alphas never reproduced an alpha. It was simple really, but some people just didn't want to accept the fact that society's ranks paralleled that of animals.

Ed, unlike the others, had accepted this. Of course, he didn't like the thought of falling into animalistic instincts and he would fight it every chance he could get, but he accepted the fact that it was a part of society, of the human population. In each and every one of them the instincts that came with their rank arose.

Alphas held an overall confident air, with power and strength, they were the ones who strived for the best, reached for the stars, and they were the ones who would achieve the most, likely with an omega by their side. Betas, who made up a majority of the population, were the supporters, listeners, and helping hands, they held high morals but held the least instincts of the three classes. Then omegas were the ones who stuck by the alphas, the ones who were dependent and needed protection. They were also the ones who could have children, despite their gender.

Of course, knowledge of what it means to be an alpha, beta, or omega was passed down by parents and no one else. It was a rather private discussion, one of which was left at home due to all the dirty details it entailed, topics such as heats, ruts, and presenting…

Topics which Ed had no fucking clue about because his mother passed away and his asshole of a father up and left when he was just a child.

All the older Elric knew about was the roles in society alphas, betas, and omegas had… He didn't know how one presented, nor what came with the presentation. No one told him, not Granny, not Winry, not even Mustang when he took the unpresented child into the military and it wasn't like Alphonse could help him out, his little brother knew even less about the topic than he did.

So, when Ed presented as an alpha at the young age of thirteen, him and his brother didn't know what to do. They didn't know what was even going on. All they knew was that for the past week, the older Elric had been snappier than usual, ready to bark at anyone and everyone close by him. The only one he managed to not completely freak out at was Alphonse, and even then, his patience for his brother had worn thin a couple times. Though there had been some worry over the older Elric's state no one had mentioned anything to him, they never asked how he was feeling and he never told them… Ed didn't think something was wrong anyways, he just blamed his frustration on this stupid, seemingly dead end journey for the philosopher stone.

It wasn't until he woke up sore, angry, and drenched in sweat that he finally admitted something was wrong. How could he not at that point? He felt sick and his skin was tingling, pulsing with a strange sensation that he couldn't quite put his finger on… And then the smells…All the new smells flooding around him, including the strong scent of what he was recognizing as himself. It was almost similar to a scent that he had noticed in many adults in the military, like Mustang or Hawkeye. He realized he must've made some sort of noise, probably a grunt or a groan, when he heard the metal of his brother's armor clanking as he presumably moved towards him. Already he was aware of his brother's questions and nagging that awaited him, so instead of letting Alphonse have a chance to ask pointless questions, he spoke up.

"What do you want, Al?!" He growled harshly, moving an arm over his face, which felt hot and slightly clammy, only adding to his irritation. He didn't seem to care about his brother being taken back by his hostility, Ed felt too angry, he was practically seeing red, and he'd take this anger out on anyone close by.
"I just… I just wanted to make sure you were alright, brother…" Alphonse replied, his voice echoing in the suit of armor they now called his body. Ed shot up and let out a bitter laugh, did he look alright? That was a fucking no, Alphonse, things weren't okay, he was pissed and uncomfortable, anyone with the ability to see could see that.

"Oh, I'm just fucking fantastic!" He huffed sarcastically, some strands of his blond hair sticking to his skin and tickling his shoulders, annoying him further and making him wonder if it'd be better to just cut all of it off. The younger Elric backed up a little bit, obviously not used to this amount of anger directed at him and unaware of the signs that his brother was having his first rut, instead he just watched the other and internally panicked. Edward could practically see the worried lines of thought going through his brother's mind and held back a scoff. If he was so damn worried he could do something about it rather than sit there and watch him like some sort of animal. For fucks sake, did Al have any common sense?!
"I…Should I go get someone?" He asked, not sure if Ed was in pain or what was creating this behavior. All Alphonse knew was that he wanted it to stop. It was intimidating and worried him, not to mention made him a bit upset as well because he knew he didn't do anything wrong here.

"Great idea Al! What a freakin' genius you are." Ed shouted as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, both flesh and automail hands in fists, shaking from his anger. When Alphonse went to reach out to him, Ed just hit the hand away with his automail harshly, glaring at his younger brother as if trying to scream at the other to leave him alone. He didn't want the other's comfort right now and he was way too uncomfortable to be touched.

It seemed that Alphonse took the hint, as he took in a shaky breath at first before walking off, the sound of metal fading in the distance along with the door closing. Taking this moment to just let out some steam, Ed threw the closest object, an alarm clock, across the room and groaned, not even caring as it shattered across the military dorm's floor.

"God, damn it...!" He muttered, gripping his hair. His whole body still felt on fire and he began to feel a sense of need growing between his legs. It was humiliating, this anger and the sensations that came with whatever was happening to him, and he knew his attitude was wrong, that Alphonse didn't deserve to be yelled at like that, but he just couldn't help it with this anger flowing through him.

It seemed like it took forever for his little brother to return, leaving Ed in this uncomfortable state between pain and lust, and though it confused the young alchemist to no end, he was too preoccupied with this and his rage to question it too much.

The first thing he noticed on his brother's return was the scent of Mustang… Except it was stronger than before, one that held a hint of something Ed's mind automatically recognized as alpha. Before Ed could even wonder about why the other's scent had changed so much, he was filled with more rage, almost a possessive one. What was his brother doing with another alpha? Why was he bringing him here?

"He kept yelling at me and he seemed in pain…I don't know what's wrong." Alphonse's worried voice carried from the other side of the door as the knob turned, the door being pushed open to reveal Al had in fact brought Mustang here.

A low growl escaped from Ed's throat as he stood, going to make his way over to the two. Mustang just turned his attention to the older Elric and smirked… A cocky expression on his face that Edward just wanted to punch off.

"Get out!" He growled, going to try and punch the other though his movements were too slow, allowing Mustang to grab Ed's wrist.

Instantly anger swept through the older Elric as he pulled his arm away. Another growl escaping his throat, low and menacing as he tried again, only to be caught… Again. In this state of mixed feelings and emotions, he was too sloppy to get any real damage done.

"Oh, come on, Fullmetal… You told your brother it'd be a good idea to get help and I'm here to try and help." Mustang replied smugly, grabbing Ed's shoulder and spinning him around, the scent of him getting stronger, something that Ed vaguely realized was an alpha scent. What was the other trying to do? Boss him around? That wasn't going to fucking work!

Trying to slap the hand off of him, Ed glared at his superior officer. "I don't want your help now get out before I make you wish you never met me!" He shouted, Alphonse tensing and putting his hand on Ed now, distracting Ed from Mustang's 'I wish that every day' comment.

"Brother, just let him help, please… Something could be wro-" Al started but when Ed turned and glared at him he was quickly silenced.

"Fullmetal, lay down and stop fighting us before I have to make you." Mustang ordered, to which Ed scoffed, about to rebut, but being grabbed by Mustang's hands, the older motioning for Alphonse to help, which the younger did hesitantly.

With the combined effort, they forced the kicking and shouting Edward to his bed, where Mustang continued to hold him down, letting out a sigh at the obvious anger fueling the older Elric.

"Leave me and my brother alone!" He shouted harshly, finding that despite the pain and uncomfortableness coursing through his body, he just wanted this alpha gone, not threatening him or Al. His Al.

"Calm down, you're acting like a child." Mustang muttered, causing more anger to swell up in Ed as he tried to spit at him, doing anything to show his anger and rebellion.

"Colonel… What's going on with him?" Alphonse asked, to which Ed huffed, not liking that his brother was talking to Mustang right now… He shouldn't be chatting with other alphas.

"Your brother's having his first rut is all. I'm not surprised that his is making him angrier than anything…" Mustang replied, though Ed didn't exactly know what a rut was, he was pissed at Mustang calling him angrier. Who the fuck was he to judge?

"Rut…? What's that?" Alphonse asked quietly, seeming to voice the confusion on the matter. Mustang looked at Alphonse then back to Ed before sighing and looking back at the armor.

"You two really don't know…?" The colonel asked before sighing. "Of course, you don't, you didn't have any parents to tell you did you… Should've realized this sooner." He muttered, standing up and running a hand over his face, the older Elric tried to sit up, but Al held him down with an apology, not wanting Ed to cause more trouble right now.

"A rut is typically seen in alphas looking to mate, when an alpha presents they go through it as well. It usually takes a couple uncomfortable days. His scent is strong, something you wouldn't know, but it's a clear indicator he's going through this… For the next couple days, he'll continue to be uncomfortable, feel overstimulated and grumpy, and dealing with arousal, as his body is reaching a state of maturity where he can mate, bond, and impregnate others. I can bring you a couple books on the matter to educate yourself later." Mustang informed as he walked towards the door, the information taking a bit to process in the younger Elric, though for Ed it was simple. He was just going through a horny, angry hell just to present as an alpha. Fucking great.

"Wait, Mustang... It'll be going on for a couple days? What do we do?!" Alphonse asked, worry leaking into his tone as he seemed slightly nervous to be left alone with his older brother at a time like this. Something that offended and frustrated Ed. What was so wrong about spending time with him?

"Just keep him in this room and try to make sure he's not too destructive. That's all you can do." Mustang replied before leaving, deciding to assign two guards to make sure the older Elric didn't get out of his room and run amuck in the meantime.

After that, there was less confusion on the matter, though Alphonse hadn't read the books Mustang left by, too busy watching over his snappy brother to do so, not to mention he was a bit scared to read into such a thing. For Ed, it felt like the days were passing by painfully slow, leaving him a complete, pissed off mess as Al took care of him. To say the least, there were a lot of clothes in need of washing, an almost traumatized Alphonse as he realized what it meant to 'take care of the issue', Ed's damaged pride at doing such a thing in front of his little brother (but damn it he needed to!), and multiple broken objects in the dorm room.

It wasn't until about five days later that woke up, his mouth dry and body feeling disgusting…But an immense relief taking over as he quickly realized it was over. The pain and discomfort was done. He was now an alpha and hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with another rut or something like that for a long time. As he sat up, he seemed to have caught his brother's attention, as the younger Elric looked over and went to go to his bedside.

"Brother…Are you alright? Do you need anything?" Alphonse asked almost hesitantly, making Ed frown as he instantly felt terrible for the things he had done in the past days that had hurt Alphonse. In his ager, he used his brother as his own personal punching bag, emotionally and physically. What a great big brother he was…

"No, Al…I'm fine, I don't need anything." Ed replied calmly, Alphonse's entire demeanor relaxing in the suit of armor as he heard his brother's voice.

Getting up, Ed walked over to Alphonse and put a hand on the other's cold metal shoulder, even if Al couldn't feel it… He hoped it provided some sort of comfort. "I'm sorry for how I've been acting… I've been pretty ridiculous." Ed informed softly, noticing Al's eyes moving on him. Before the other could even speak up and say something along the lines of there was no need to apologize, Ed went to grab some clothes.

"I'm feeling pretty gross… I'm going to go shower." Ed informed, going to head to the door, but stopping as he heard Al's voice ring out.

"Wait, brother." Alphonse said softly, standing up and inspecting the other. "Does um…. Does it feel different now? Being an alpha…?" Alphonse asked, his curiosity obvious, though Ed didn't blame him. Ed looked over his shoulder and shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah I guess… I mean… I can pick up a lot more smells for one. When Mustang came the first day it all started I was able to tell he was an alpha just by his scent… Other than that…I don't know how much has changed yet." Ed replied, though it was hard to vocalize his new feelings, he felt as though Al deserved to know, the younger may not be able to experience anything like this until he gets his body back…And even then, Ed was his older brother so it was his duty to let Alphonse know what he was in store for.

"Huh…That's interesting…" Alphonse mumbled and looked away. "You know, thinking about it, I'm not that surprised you're one. I mean, wasn't dad an alpha too?" He asked and Ed knew was he was insinuating. Lucky him got to take after his bastard of a father, seems he was still following in his footsteps even to this day.

"Yeah, whatever. Forget about him, Al." Ed replied before leaving the room. One thing was for sure, things were going to be different now. He didn't know how but now he had reached maturity, so his life was bound to change. While he did feel a bit grateful that he did end up an alpha, a rank that was high and respected, he also knew he wouldn't put that in front of being a human being. He wasn't going to act better than others because of this. He wasn't going to let himself change.

All he could do now was try to continue being Edward Elric. That's all he wanted.