At War with Angels – Alternate Ending
by Lokemele
Summary: Chibi Haku has given me her permission to write this alternate ending to her story "At war with Angels". If you haven't read it you won't understand what's happening in this story. This is going to be severely DEUS EX MACHINA and picks up from the end of Ch. 23. Edward always struck me as someone who wants fix everything that's wrong, so that's how I'm going to write it. Rated M for a nude scene. I wanted to post the URL for At war with Angels, but the site won't let me!! I've added it to my profile, hopefully you can see it there.
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Edward drew back from the kiss and looked at the nails and manacles fastening Mustang to the wall and ceiling. "How am I going to get you down? Even with the key to the manacles, the nails will take longer than we probably have."
"No need," Mustang gasped, "just . . . leave me . . . you . . . shouldn't have . . . come."
"You no longer have the right to tell me what to do," Edward said angrily. "You gave it up when you betrayed your people and broke your promise to me. Just SHUT UP while I rescue you!"
Mustang's only answer was a raised eyebrow and an attempted smirk before closing his eyes once more.
Edward landed and began to pace. Pacing helped him think and he'd never learned an airborne equivalent. He wasn't leaving without his smirking bastard, but there couldn't possibly be enough time to get him off that wall. The laws of physics made it impossible.
Wait a minute! What had that girl Ran said? "If the second injection were to be administered to the child, however, there would occur a being that still was bound by the rules of physics... but instead of being governed by them, would control them."(1)
He pulled the syringe of golden liquid from his pocket.
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Alphonse rushed in when he heard his brother scream, but saw only a glowing, egg-shaped light between himself and Mustang on the far wall. Two thumps heralded the ejection of Edward's prosthetics from the light, and a moment later it dimmed to reveal a whole and slightly older version of the Avian Prince.
He uncurled from the fetal position he'd been in and extended his arms out to the sides, shoulder high and palms outward. Golden light shot from both palms, hitting the walls and spreading to cover walls, floor and ceiling before being absorbed. The door slammed shut behind Alphonse, sealing the room. Edward gestured with a hand and moved the room out of synch with the space-time of the rest of the building.
"It's OK, Al," he said. "We're safe now; they can't get to us here."
The younger prince was less than reassured, considering Edward was still glowing softly.
"Brother?"
"Ed . . . ward . . . what . . . did . . . you . . . do?" gasped out Mustang.
The older prince ignored the question and gestured to the man hanging from the far wall. Golden light enveloped the wounded man, taking his weight. Manacles opened, nails flew out and dropped to the floor; bruises faded, wounds closed, shoulders were replaced, blood disappeared, and feathers regrew as the man floated gently down and across the room to where Edward now stood on the floor. The ex-captain stumbled slightly as the glow faded and his legs were forced to take his weight.
Mustang's eyes met Edward's briefly before scanning the room. "I asked you a question."
"I heard you the first time, and incidentally, you're welcome," the golden eyed prince replied. "What are you looking for, anyway?"
The former captain gestured at his unclad state. "Some clothes would be nice. Weapons would be better. A convenient escape route would best of all."
"Interesting priorities," Edward said. "Let's reorder them. First: weapons – we don't need them, since the enemy can't get at us; I moved us into a separate space-time. Ditto for an escape route; we've already escaped. As for clothes," he paused to run lecherous eyes down and up the unclad man, "I like the way you're dressed."
"Edward," Mustang growled, about to launch into a scathing tirade, but he was interrupted by Alphonse.
"Brother, did you use the second dose?"
The golden eyed blond turned to his younger brother. "I had to, Al. It was the only way to get this smirking bastard," he nodded toward Mustang, "off the wall and safely away with us."
"I seem to recall," said the man in question, narrowing his eyes, "giving orders for you to specifically stay away."
Edward pinned him with a look. "You lost the privilege of giving orders to anyone when you left the ship to meet with Bradley, and you never had the ability to give orders to me."
Mustang blinked, realizing only now that he'd lost control of both the situation and Edward.
"I need to do some things," the older prince said, gathering up his prosthetics. "I'll be right back." Before either of the other two could reply, he disappeared.
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He appeared in the forest near his adopted parents' burrow and called them to him. Golden light enveloped the trio and they vanished. A moment later three people appeared in the hallway outside the Rockbell's apartment.
Nick and Ana Carlton looked down at their restored bodies, clad as they'd been the morning before they'd been DIGITized. Edward hugged them and gave them each a prosthetic. "You're the only parents I've ever had, and I love you both, but we all know I can't stay. I don't belong in your world anymore. Tell Pinako and Winry I'm sorry." He disappeared before either of them could speak.
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He paused in a place between space and time and gathered up a recently disembodied consciousness before reaching for his next destination.
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Lisa Hawkeye was giving a final briefing to her troops when she was interrupted by the appearance of Prince Edward Elric. It was the man with him, however, who drew shouts of disbelief. Maes Hughes stood alive, unwounded, and dressed in the uniform of a Captain, next to his prince.
Edward called for silence and ordered the Avians to stand down from combat and prepare to depart the solar system.
"While I thank you for being alive and appreciate the promotion, Your Highness, what are you planning to do about Mustang? I don't think he's going to like being replaced."
"You just worry about the ship and crew and leave Mustang to me," replied Edward before disappearing.
"First time I've ever seen someone who was able to enjoy a posthumous promotion," remarked Havok. "By the way, Captain, what do you remember?"
"The last thing I remember was having a knife in my shoulder," said Hughes. "The next thing I knew I was here and promoted."
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Edward reappeared next to Alphonse, causing the younger man to jump and yell.
"Finish all your errands?" Mustang asked.
"All but one," Edward replied. "I still haven't finished with you. We need to get a few things straight. Number one: I'm the prince, and you're the nobleman. That means I give orders and you take them. Is that understood?"
Mustang frowned at his prince but nodded.
"Number two: You're relieved of command of the Shiroi Tenshi no Shi due to your acts of treason. Because you're a nobleman and in consideration of your years of service, you will be given the rank of Commodore, but as of now you are out of the chain of command and cannot give orders to even the lowest crewman." The prince gestured and Mustang was clad in the appropriate uniform.
This time the new commodore looked as if he would protest, but a glare from Edward stopped him.
"There's one more item, but that's best left to a more private venue." He gestured a final time, and the room was returned to its normal space-time.
A second later it was empty.
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The trio appeared on the bridge and caused a momentary fuss while everyone made the necessary obeisance to the two princes. Mustang was too busy gaping at a live Hughes to notice he'd taken his place and rank.
"Are we ready, Captain?" asked Edward.
"All stations have reported their readiness, Your Highness," Hughes replied.
Edward closed his eyes and reached.
The Shiroi Tenshi no Shi disappeared from the Sol System and reappeared in the system where it had been built. The Avians were finally home.
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Epilogue – A Year Later
Edward Elric, known as the Hermit Prince, stood leaning against the balcony's railing and looked out over the treetops below. He'd seen the small plateau on one of his first flights on his homeworld, and had gotten permission from his father the king to build a home there. It was relatively small as royal dwellings went, spanning a mere half-dozen trees and having only a handful of servants, most to keep the place clean and in good repair. It wouldn't be proper, his father had said, for a prince to sweep his own floors or patch his own roof.
It was one of a number of things they'd disagreed on. While Edward's head knew the king was his father, his heart just couldn't connect. The smile-and-dagger intrigues of the court were something he had no interest in learning, and it was pretty obvious Queen Dante considered him and Alphonse interlopers taking the king's affection from her own children – and their place as rulers. Before resentment could fester into plots both princes had abdicated, leaving the throne to a prince who'd been trained from birth to rule.
Al was happily studying medicine as Alphonse Curtis, his blue wings giving no indication of his royal blood.
Edward avoided both the court and the public, seeing only the few people he'd gotten to know aboard the Shiroi Tenshi no Shi. It wasn't that he ignored his people; he was studying engineering and figuring out ways to make ground level fortresses and transports beast-proof so mining could be done in greater safety.
He also spent a lot of time with one Roy Mustang. He smiled as he recalled the discussion of that "one more item". . .
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He'd finally managed to corner Mustang in his private bath. "Why have you been avoiding me?"
"Haven't you ever heard it's rude to invade a private bath?"
"Haven't you ever heard it's rude to avoid a prince?"
"It won't improve your standing in court if you're seen with a disgraced traitor."
"Why should I care what a bunch of brown-nosing stuffed shirts have to say?"
"You'll one day be ruling those brown-nosing stuffed shirts."
"Not if Queen Dante has her way. I wonder how shocked she'll be when she hears Al and I are abdicating."
He took advantage of Mustang's open mouth to kiss him, and the older man suddenly found himself naked with his arms full of naked, horny prince.
"Edward! Don't change the subject!"
"Why not? It's why I tracked you down, after all. Number three: There's a bond between us, and I know you feel it as well as I do. It's why I aged myself 3 years so I'd be old enough that you wouldn't feel like a pervert when we made love."
"You – aged yourself – for me?"
"Roy, I love you. Can't you see that? Or have you decided to go all noble and sacrifice yourself again? Well, you can just forget it! I'm putting my royal foot down and insisting you make yourself happy!"
Edward might have continued to rant on if Roy hadn't covered the younger man's mouth with his own.
It was some time later when Roy got his bath, with Edward joining him.
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Edward's train of thought was interrupted by arms wrapping around him and lips pressing against the back of his neck. "Busy day?" Roy asked.
"The usual; my eTutor wants more detail in my work, my dad wants me to attend a reception next week, and Capt. Hughes wants us to drop by and see the new baby."
"You'd think he could find something better to name his first son than Edward Roy Hughes."
"Speaking of names, have you heard the Royal Nicknames for my younger half-sibs?"
Roy grimaced. "Please tell me you didn't have any hand in that."
"Not me; I want to stay on Queen Dante's good side."
"What on Vian were they thinking, saddling those kids with the names Envy, Greed and Wrath?"
"Well, I can at least understand Envy's resentment. He shouldn't have had the throne snatched away just because we returned. He's never going to be a confident ruler, because he'll always wonder if some faction or another will convince me or Al to take the throne back someday."
"There's not a whole lot you can do about that."
"I know, but . . . I just wish I could convince him neither of us wants the throne."
"Let it go, Ed." Roy nibbled along the other man's jawline. "I'll give you something much better to think about."
They turned away from the balcony as the sun set, and shared the next of many joyous and loving nights.
The End.
(1) Quoted from Ch. 23 of "At war with Angels"
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