A/N: There should be warnings all over this. INCEST! NEAR RAPE! And of course the man love. I must say, I was cringing the entire time I wrote it. I was bored out of my mind and one of my friends gave me the idea, so I went with it. Apologies in advance for the horribleness that stemmed from my twisted mind.
I'm sure similar scenarios have been used with these two before, but really, the ultimate goal was just for me to see if I could handle the incest. I can't. Now, onward! Please don't kill me.
Broken, scattered shards of glass were strewn across the tabletop, picking up tiny rays of light from the dusty window and glinting in the semidarkness. Ashes and blood peppered the floorboards, spattered restlessly across the blurred image of what had been a transmutation circle. Two boys laid bare and motionless at its center, oblivious to the remnants of smoke that clouded the air. One moaned fitfully as a stack of leather-bound books shifted, while the other rested awkwardly atop a pile of disassembled armor with a faded blood seal that was no longer needed…
◊◊◊
Edward Elric stirred in the twilight, grunting as he raised his weary body from the floor. At once he lifted his right arm to eye level, noting the silence as he did so. There came no soft chink of metal, no sound of automail creaking. Then he shifted his left leg and listened to the satisfying scuff of his bare heel as it slid across the wood. No loud scrape of metal. At long last, everything had been set right.
Quickly, he set to clearing away all evidence of their hurried transmutation. The two boys had waited and planned carefully for ages, and yet when the time had come they had thrown caution to the wind and barely hesitated long enough to reflect, never mind double check any specific preparations.
Edward dared not feast his eyes on the unconscious form of his younger brother. Alphonse was breathing, the breath coming in short rasps, and that was miracle enough. The fear of a possible miscalculation had put the blonde on edge, and he was determined not to face his brother's newly created body until absolutely necessary. It may have been a dream at that point, or worse, another hideous nightmare of a sort.
The elder boy heaved a sigh. He was still not a hundred percent sure they'd been attentive enough to the laws of equivalency, yet despite that fact, nothing they did now could possibly be worse than their initial mistake.
It was then that Alphonse Elric stirred. He came to with a groan, and Ed froze in his tracks, any previously anticipated words caught in his throat.
"Brother?" Al called uneasily, the moment he noticed his older sibling's absence. "Brother! Oh no…"
"I'm here, Alphonse." His voice cracked, and he turned slowly to face his brother's body of flesh with wide golden eyes, brow etched with an array of unintelligible emotions, disbelief and worry among them.
"Ed," Alphonse spun around, immediately catching sight of his elder brother beneath the screen of shadows. "I didn't know where you went. I thought…"
"I'm fine," Ed replied as if in a trance, "The transmutation worked." Suddenly his faced broke into a grin and he placed both hands triumphantly on his hips. "But how do you feel, Al? Take a look at yourself!"
Al blinked a pair of light eyes, realization slowly dawning. "It worked!" He yelped as he glanced down at his smooth flesh and long, slender fingers. "It's me! I'm real! And I remember everything. My memories are still there!"
"Of course they are," Edward squinted as his smile grew. "Did you think I'd leave those behind?" He stiffened as he caught sight of his brother face. "Al, what's the matter?"
The young boy had lifted a finger wonderingly to his cheek, swiping away a wet, glimmering tear in astonishment. "I'm so happy, Ed. Look, I'm even crying! I can cry!"
"Aw, don't be such a baby," the older boy teased, trying hard to ignore the lump that grew in the back of his own throat. At once the cheeky grin faded, leaving him with a pained look.
"Brother?" Al inquired, standing with only a little difficulty. "This is incredible! And look at your arm and leg! It's a miracle."
Edward paused, listening to the sweet ring of his younger brother's voice, unobstructed and no longer confined in its hollow metal prison to echo in that tinny, soulless quality.
"It's no miracle, Al," he stated, "It's alchemy. I only wish mom was here to see how you've grown up these past few years."
Alphonse ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair, savoring the sensation he felt as the short, coarse strands slid through his fingers. "I guess I have gotten bigger. Mom would be proud if us, wouldn't she? I wonder what Winry will say when she sees me? I can't wait to eat real food again!"
Edward chuckled. "Heh, Winry will probably say that I can't use your armor as an excuse for our height difference anymore."
Al giggled. "But it looks like it's true that I'm taller than you, even without the suit."
"Watch it," Ed scowled, and Al laughed.
"But what now?" Al suddenly asked, raising his bright eyes to meet those of the boy across the room. "How do we explain to the military that we did this without the use of the Philosopher's Stone?"
"I'm not sure of that yet," Ed answered, resuming his tidying of shelves with a frown as he thought of what Mustang would do to them. "But we need to go back to Central as soon as we're through here."
Al halted his experimental romp about the room with a look of alarm. "What about Winry and Pinako? We aren't going to tell them?"
"We've got other priorities that come first, Al."
"That's not fair, brother! Winry always complains that we never tell her anything. I don't want to leave yet. I want to spend more time with you!"
Edward stopped, pivoting around to face his pouting sibling. The shock of gazing at a flesh-and-bone body, one that he'd not laid eyes on for years, still had not fully taken effect. He blinked back his emotions and grumbled aloud.
"Alphonse, cut it out. Don't forget, I'm still a dog of the military. As soon as I finish here, I'm heading back."
Al took a small step forward. "At least spar with me. I need to test out my new abilities!"
"Hah!" Ed barked wryly. "Don't be in such a hurry to get your butt kicked, you big heaping trash can!"
At once both boys ceased all movement, and their eyes met. Al grinned, and the two simultaneously broke into a bout of hesitant, nervous laughter.
"Looks like I've got you now, big brother," Al teased, quickly recovering from the awkward comment and lightening the mood with an almighty smirk. "I guess you can't call me that anymore. Luckily, all your various nicknames about how you're so short still apply to you…"
"Oh no you don't," Ed reacted automatically as both his arms flailed about like windmills and his face contorted into a rather ridiculous snarl. "Who are you calling a tiny, microscopic pea so small that you can't…" He trailed off, noticing his brother was no longer standing in front of him. Without warning, his newly structured right arm was wrenched behind his back.
"I'm even faster now that I'm human again," Al whispered into his older brother's ear, his voice low and playful. He let the enraged elder boy struggle for a bit before relinquishing his vise-like grip.
"Now spar with me," Alphonse demanded, knowing full well that he'd gotten his brother riled enough to take the bait.
"No chance," Ed responded hastily, as a blush he could not explain began to creep to the surface of his cheeks. Al's jaw dropped in utter disbelief, the way it had done frequently when they were children.
"Don't look at me like that, Al. I'm not risking that body for anything." The blush grew, and a long silence followed. Edward could only hope that the poor light in the room was enough to conceal it.
"I don't know how much damage that form can handle, or how long it will last…" His golden eyes strayed to the lonely pile of armor on the floor, where dark, empty sockets stared at him from the depths of the huddled helmet beneath the foot of the table. A chill breath of air washed over him, and the blonde alchemist shuddered.
Now that he'd given Alphonse back his full body — and even restored his own — the thought of either of them again becoming limited by metallic bodies was a foreboding thought indeed. Without a word, Edward sank onto the bed and began to untie his hair, sending up puffs of fine dust and debris from the quilt as he pondered again whether he'd done the right thing. After all, in the armor, his younger brother had had a chance at almost total immortality. What right did he have to take that away? Yet he knew deep in his soul that both of them had wanted it — the beautiful flesh form that Alphonse now existed inside. He raked his fingers absently through his long locks as he brooded.
"Let me do it," Al murmured as he moved forward, taking a seat beside the elder boy.
"I can take care of it," Ed replied easily, noting with surprise the warmth that radiated from the untroubled youth beside him.
"So can I," came the quick response, and Ed allowed his arms to drop as nimble fingers took over, sifting through the tangled yellow strands with ease.
"I'm not so little anymore, you know. And besides," Al added happily, "It feels good to use my fingers this way."
The two remained in the still, dim room. A loose floorboard creaked of its own accord, and wind whistled high in the ceiling rafters as a breeze crept through the shuttered window. The atmosphere was warm despite the flow of cool wind, and Edward let his eyelids drift shut in meditation, his mind tumbling around scraps of events that were yet to come.
"Brother."
Suddenly a pair of arms had wrapped themselves around his frame from behind, and he felt the presence of his younger brother's lips hovering at his ear as the former armored boy whispered to him.
"I'm finished."
"Thanks," Ed stuttered, moving away slowly and turning to face the younger boy. He was surprised to see the skin so flawless, and the eyes so full of life. "It's really you, Alphonse."
Al giggled, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"I just can't…" the Fullmetal Alchemist was at a loss for words. He watched helplessly as the eyes of his little brother widened, then allowed himself to be turned back around by strong hands.
"I know it will take time to get used to seeing me in this body again, brother," Al said, "But it'll be okay. Now let me braid your hair again for you."
"What for?"
"I want to."
Edward felt the pull of his bother's hands on his hair as the younger boy began to run his fingers through it a second time. Almost immediately the motion ceased.
"Alphonse?" Edward's skin prickled as the sudden sensation of Al's lips on the nape of his neck set his spine to tingling.
"You smell so good," the younger boy observed, his moist breath washing over Ed's bare skin as he spoke in a low hush. Then he pressed his body against that of the elder boy and planted a shy kiss on his shoulder.
"Al? What the hell are you doing?" Edward whirled and pulled away.
"I-I'm sorry." Al blinked, a genuine look of confusion crossing his childlike face. "I don't know why I…"
"Good grief, Alphonse," Edward joked, trying hard to shove aside the sharp bolt of fear that had shot through him. "Maybe we should go see Winry after all."
Al lifted his face from his hands and frowned. "Don't make fun of me. Winry is nice. She's just like our sister."
"Yeah, and I'm your brother," Edward remarked casually, biting back a nervous shudder as he spoke the reminder aloud.
At first Al was silent. The next thing Edward Elric knew, he was pinned on his back, his body pressed against the dusty bed as Alphonse forced himself atop him.
"I don't care," the younger boy announced.
"Al!" Edward struggled uselessly, cursing his younger brother's larger frame.
"I don't care that you're my brother! You're right here in front of me, finally, and I can't help it!" His hazel eyes had welled up with angry tears, and the drops clung to thick, dark lashes like tiny crystals.
Ed wriggled madly, but to no avail. "Alphonse, you're not in your right mind…" At that moment, he was more terrified that his younger brother could hold him down so easily than he was worried about the other boy's crazed explanation.
"I tried to control myself, brother — I tried to hide it from you for this whole half-hour!" His grip on the older boy's wrists tightened. "I don't want to hurt you, but I can't stop now."
"Hurt me? Just what are you going to…" A lurch of nausea swirled about Edward's stomach as he realized his sibling's intentions with a sudden shock. "Don't even think about it! We can't do this. This is wrong."
It was as if the younger boy did not hear him. Edward cringed as he felt his brother's hand running down his chest, followed soon after by a trail of steamy kisses on his bare skin, while one hand still held his own arms captive above his head.
"Alphonse…stop…"
"I've wanted to," Al began, allowing his fingers to slide beneath the hem of Edward's trousers and ignoring the way his elder brother fought wildly. "I've wanted for so long to be able to connect with you. Just to touch your skin or feel your hair, but I couldn't do those things. I missed your body when I was trapped in that suit of armor."
"You can't miss something if you've never experienced it before, Alphonse," Ed strained, biting down hard on his lip to keep from crying out.
"Don't fight me," Al soothed, kissing the top of Edward's head gently. "I promise this won't hurt a bit if you just let me."
"Like hell I'll let you!" He didn't wait another instant. With a mighty heave, he jerked his arms free and clapped his hands together. There was a flicker of electricity and a puff of smoke, and when the wispy clouds cleared, Ed found himself gazing at the barrier he'd erected on the bed between them. A barrier that had already been transmuted a second time and turned into a harmless pile of feathers.
"H-how the hell did you transmute that so quickly?" Ed stammered, the fear inside him now reaching critical as Alphonse mercilessly grabbed his arm and backed him against the head of the bed.
"I said not to fight me," Al repeated coolly. "Brother, why can't you just understand how I feel?"
"Understand?" the blonde alchemist exclaimed furiously. "Al! I'm your flesh and blood!"
The bluntness of the words barely caused the younger boy to hesitate. "But are you?" he asked earnestly. "After all these bodies have been through, how do you know if that's true anymore?"
Ed tilted his head back and squinted his golden eyes shut in an attempt to keep his head from spinning. "Even if it isn't…"
"I won't stop, brother. I love you."
"Don't play games with me, Al."
"I'm not playing."
There was nothing more Edward could do without hurting the other boy. He gripped the heavy quilt with white knuckles, gasping as his trousers slowly came away. He had never imagined the gaining of his younger sibling's body resulting in any activity of this magnitude.
He felt Alphonse shift above him, felt the younger boy's excitement as they were pressed together, Al's tongue vigorously lapping at the hollow of his throat. His back arched involuntarily as the larger youth's grip slid to his thighs and lifted him into a more comfortable position.
Edward froze with sheer dread. "Alphonse, don't…"
He groaned when he was met with only silence, trembling as he instead felt his younger brother take him with the warm cavern of his mouth. A small noise of reluctance escaped him as Al began to follow through with slow, languid motions, letting his teeth run lightly over his brother's protruding member. Ed moaned aloud.
"Does it feel good, brother?" Al pulled away unhurriedly, luxuriously.
"Alphonse, why are you doing this?" Ed managed to choke out around the sickening sensation that had settled in the pit of his stomach. He watched as Al's eyes widened.
"You mean you really don't like it?" The boy's sweet voice rose an octave with surprise.
"Of course not!" Ed steamed, paling considerably as Alphonse lifted an arm and leisurely swiped a hand across one corner of his mouth. "What's the matter with you? Answer me, damn it!" His chest heaved with the effort it took to speak; his body was crying out for satisfaction, yet it was his own brother positioned on the bed and so he could not plea for it.
"I want to be inside you, Edward," Al stated calmly. "After all this time away, in a place where I could never lay a finger on you, I want to touch you and make you feel what I've been feeling. That's a desire that can't be controlled."
"You're twisted," Ed murmured, as Al bent and resumed his tantalizing routine.
"You're enjoying it." The other boy insisted.
"Of course I am, you idiot!" The blonde alchemist didn't need to look know that his younger brother was smirking in conquest. "But stop and think about what you're doing first! I don't want to do this, Al, but I don't know how much longer I can hold. Why can't you understand that?"
"I love you too much," Al stated immediately, and Ed squeezed his eyes shut in objection.
"Alphonse, don't say that."
"But it's true," the younger boy protested, bending at the waist and leaning down to lightly kiss the blonde's eyelids while running his fingers through his silken hair. "Not just as my brother. I really do care about you!"
"That doesn't change a thing, you moron!" Ed thrashed in a second attempt at freedom. "I won't let you! Alphonse, please…"
"Please what?" the youth responded, taking his elder brother in his grip and running his hand up and down his hardened length with precision. "Faster? Or should I stop teasing and just give you what you want?"
Edward snarled, knowing full well that he had already let himself fall too far into his brother's succulent trap. "When this is over…"
It happened almost at once. Al entered him, his small, strong hands closing over the blonde's shoulders as he delved deep inside. Edward spread his legs to allow the younger boy more access, cringing all the while. The feeling made him sick; the brutal truth that ran through his mind in circles drove him to the brink of madness, and yet, he spurred the quick thrusting motions forward.
If the warped encounter was destined to happen, he may as well lie obediently and pray for a quick end to it.
Beads of sweat were collecting on the surface of his skin now, and Alphonse slowly began to nibble at the tender spot on his neck. Ed tilted his head aside to expose the area, biting back a yell when the gesture left him quivering in ecstasy. Immediately he felt a wave of nausea overtake him.
Al paused, and Edward took a deep, cleansing breath as the intrusive motion ceased.
"You really don't like it, do you?" Al observed, not intending the question to be answered.
Ed responded anyway. "What did you expect?"
"I-I thought I could make you like it."
"You have no idea what you've begun, do you?" Ed laid panting, droplets of condensation making his smooth skin glow with a thin sheen of light.
"I can't help myself, brother!" came the desperate plea. "Please, let's keep going. I want to make you feel what I feel. I want to make you love me too!"
"Idiot! You can't just force yourself on someone like that and expect them to be okay with it!" He remained still, closely observing the countenance of the boy positioned above him. "Alphonse…" He ran a hand through his dampened hair, searching for words that might somehow preserve his sibling's dignity.
"But," Al stammered, "I thought that if it was you, we'd be able to!"
Ed averted his golden eyes. "Did you really miss me that much?" he asked after a pause, his voice a hoarse whisper.
"Yes!" the younger boy replied without hesitating. "I told you, I—"
"Then finish it." The command cut through Al's stammered excuses.
"Brother?"
Ed sighed, then reached up to touch his brother's cheek, running a forefinger gently over the boy's lips with silent consent. "Finish it," he repeated.
"Ed…" Al's hazel eyes held the unspoken question, and the other alchemist shook his head.
"Don't ask why." When Al nodded, Edward drew the youth to him and captured his lips in a tender kiss.
Alphonse shuddered with delight before beginning his practice once more. This time it was quicker, more passionate. Edward curled his legs around his brother's lower back, clasping his arms at the same time about the boy's neck to bring him closer. He raised his head to whisper in Alphonse's ear.
"I love you too, Al," he said quietly, savoring the way his sibling trembled with pleasure at the words. "That's why. You're my little brother."
It was over momentarily, and Alphonse collapsed in a heap next to his partner. "I'm glad I got my body back."
"So am I, Al," Edward smiled and closed his eyes, letting one hand slip around his brother's shoulders and holding him tightly, "So am I."
A/N: Oh, my burning eyes. The images in my head! Never again shall I attempt a go at this type of thing. xx