An Extra Elric

Summary: Collin Elric?!

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist (c) Hiromu Arakawa

Rate: PG

Warnings: Spoilers after Episode 50. Feeble explanation of the movie plot holes in a noobish fic + some humor.

Author's comments: This isn't meant to be a good fic at all; I'm just hoping this will somehow get people thinking or something. -laughs- this one was a rather strange plot bunny; and I'm sorry that I pretty much disrespected the other Edward. Let's just pretend he had a big heart who loved his girlfriend too much to care about political laws, hmm? It's not like the Amestris!Edward cared about social/religious laws either…oh, and don't worry, this isn't M-Preg; I for once didn't write anything with Elricest in it (OMG?!)

…I hate giving names to fic characters; it makes me feel like I'm disrespecting the original creations by creating this fic/character for the fic and it feels like Mary Suing. u.u oh well. I hope you can enjoy the fic anyway. Comments too please; I want to make sure that my theory is understandable oo

Btw, I didn't put my all into this so sorry for the crappy quality ¦ D the POVs keep switching and the dumb ending and all that…er, yeah. I hope this can somehow be worth your time…maybe as influence? Who knows ; Enjoy!

He could only blink. Then blink again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard something rumple in a soft thud but he wasn't sure if it was the newspaper or really, his brain that had turned to smoke and had puffed out of his head.

Colors, it seemed, looked to be the only thing that made sense to him. And when the curled locks of brown slightly fidgeted, he blinked again and, hardly conscious, let out a hollow, "…huh?"

She hunched her shoulders and bit her lips; no doubt swallowing back a wince. "I-I'm sorry I can't e-e-explain m-myself!" She stammered, shaking from head to foot. "L-l-like I s-said, she…he…I-I'm sorry!" She took a step forward in his direction and earned a jerk backward in reply. "I just…I don't know what to do and I've seen you and that young man around and I know that somehow, I can trust you despite the fact that she said that you couldn't take him but I-I oh, goodness, I am sorry for saying this but I have been, er, watching you as of late since I don't know what to do and oh blessed Lord, forgive me for disbelieving what my dear friend has confided in me! I betrayed her! Christine, forgive me!"

Edward Elric was still in a stupor, and he hardly heard her long run-on sentence (he vaguely noted that she managed to squeeze 75 words in a single breath and wondered if she talks like that often). But he did catch the watching bit, and accepted the fact that yes, he wasn't being paranoid before; there really was someone watching him and Al during the past week or so. He took a deep breath, releasing the door with a small grimace as his sticky hand stripped itself off of the door. He looked down at the dwindling girl and said, in his newly acquired semi-German accent, "You must have the wrong person. I don't…this can't be my…my…"

Because, in all things concerned, he's only existed on Earth for three years and there is no way that the little five year old standing next to this poor girl is…his son?? It's a little far-fetched, yet she's insisting that his father is an 'Edward Elric' and he's been missing his father for all his life. Not to mention that the little guy who was sucking on him thumb had blond hair and light brown (almost gold?) eyes. Not even in this world is Edward safe from surprises. Not that it's the first time of course, since living in your doppelganger's body and dying with himself is considered as a surprise enough already. But a younger version of yourself? Just how many clones are there in this world?!

"Oh, but sir, she never talked about you," she sniffed. "But she has told me your name a-and that you were gone away long before Collin was born." She tugged her hand and brought the little boy tottering towards Edward. "Naturally, you wouldn't know since s-she never contacted you. Dear oh dear, s-she always talked as though you were dead. N-Not that, of course, she talked much about you; i-i-it pained her to do so." Tears welled up in her large green eyes as she looked on intently at the blonde, waiting for an answer.

Edward didn't know what to say, he was never good at comforting people; especially to himself. Not especially to himself. Just when he was about to bolt out of the doorway to escape this, his little brother showed up at the scene; the only person who could put the world in order without fail no matter who it was. Especially with his older brother from whom he had enough practice with.

"Niisan? Who is this?" Alphonse Elric inquired, stepping up to the doorway. "Why aren't you letting her in? Come on in, Miss," he smiles. "Oh, and who's th-"

He stopped and stared as his older brother groaned. "Al, this is…this is all a misunderstanding." He said, starting to gain control of the situation. "I have no memory of ever…er, I-I don't think I have ever met you before, hence never meeting your…your acquaintance. I-I do not know of any Christine Elric."

Ed had gasped when he heard his alleged 'wife' for the first time but Al had other ways to express his surprised. Al widened his eyes and slightly parted his lips, then turned his attention back to the child. He opened his mouth but nothing came out until finally, he choked out, "Niisan…you…you had a bab-?"

"Shhh AL!!" He quickly covers his younger brother's mouth, already aware that there were eyes peeking through eyeholes and ears to keyholes. The one disadvantage living with neighbors. "Y-yeah, c-come inside. I-It's uh, much quieter in here." He beckoned them both (three of them, actually) inside the apartment and quickly closed the door.

How on Earth this came to be like this, Ed has no idea. …Actually, he shouldn't be questioning this planet at all; there's too many things that didn't make sense in this world! Alphonse was still staring down at the kid named Collin who was also equally staring up at Al. Ed couldn't imagine how it must be for the young brother to be looking (further) down at his older brother. The girl held her fist to her chin and said worriedly, "I-I do hope I did not come at a wrong time t-though judging f-from your states this past week I-I s-shouldn't think so…"

It was her turn to be blinked at by silver eyes. "What?"

"She's been watching us," Edward explained as she winced and flushed crimson. "She's saying that this kid is my son since- A-Al, don't look at me like that I swear I have nothing to do with this!" He cried, raising his arms up in defence. "He's five years old, right? I've only been here for three; i-it doesn't add up!"

"I-I'm afraid it does." She whispered. "You say you do not remember her? Perhaps that's why she said you were 'gone'; she must have meant that you lost your memory as a soldier." She nodded down at Edward's legs, Alphonse realizing that she had probably noticed his limp. "I-I understand. I do not know everything since…since Christine d-didn't say much of you a-and she's…she's w-with the Lord s…so…" her voice lowered to nothing, and the child looked up at her, his expression still wide-eyed and silent.

"S-soldier? Niisan, what is she…?" Alphonse stopped at his words; remembering that before he came here there was a great war on Earth. But Ed wasn't a part of it; he came some three years after it ended. Three years ago…Alphonse suddenly realized: the child was born at the end of that war sometime when Ed had first come to Earth. So it couldn't be his. Alphonse almost sighed with relief.

"Look, I know I'm Edward Elric since I was adopted by Hohenheim Elric back in 1915. I was in London then, and I managed to escape the draft by researching engineering with him in Oxford." Edward said smoothly, having recited this many times before. "We moved to Munich, here, and I met Al a few years later and…and that's all that happened." Edward paused. "Oh, and uh, he told me that I lost any of my memories from before 1919 s-so if…er…"

Al wanted to throw a punch at Edward right here and there. He gave the very excuse that can explain why he couldn't remember this Christine and that they 'had' this child! The younger Elric was remembering now: Edward had told him when they settled down that he accidentally killed the Edward of this planet in an accident after re-meeting Hohenheim and that was how he had come back through the Gate and revived Al. During Al's revival, he was brought back to Earth; except, it was three years later into the future. (Hohenheim had assumed that the Gate not only connected to different locations but it also took trespassers to different times since Hohenheim had also come to Earth to the future three years before Edward did even though in Amestris, it had only been a week of time difference for the both of them to cross the Gate.) It was at Ed's second revisit that Hohenheim gave him a place in this world to cover up his lack of proof showing that he is an Earthling by giving him the identity of the Edward Elric of this world; he and Ed deciding to pretend that he suffered a severe amnesia to explain Ed's lack of knowledge of the past of both Earth and of 'himself'. So he took the London Edward Elric, left the country, and started a different life anew thanks to the amnesia plan.

But it looked like his ghost had a skeleton in his closet as they say…

Well, in a way at least.

His older brother started to panic, his mouth clamped shut in his self-distrust as he struggled to search for another argument. His eyes kept to the ground as his way of thinking went, and tried not to look at either the boy or his nanny. Alphonse looked back down at the young boy, who had stopped sucking his thumb.

He watched the big copper (dark gold?) eyes staring up at him in unison.

He stared back.

The toddler blinked once.

Alphonse blinked twice.

Collin's lips slightly parted as his eyes began to search Al's face.

The brunette, without thinking, slowly lowered himself down; as though like a magnet.

Collin held up one small hand, and touched the ex-Alchemist's cheek; gently and softly, cocking his head to one side in an adorable fashion.

It was like the world suddenly blossomed.

"N-Niisan…" he faltered, finding himself on his knees and clutching Collin's hand. "M-Maybe he is yours…"

A more stunned expression could not have stretched across his features any more than he did at the moment. "What!?" he nearly yelled. "Al! Did you just say what I thought you just said??"

Even the young girl was astonished, choosing to let go of Collin's hand and bending down over the two boys. "M-My, you have a k-kind way towards children, do you," she commented, not sure what else to say.

Alphonse hardly heard her, his eyes sparkling as the little toddler brought his freed hand over Al's and smiled shyly at him. "Niisan…" he whispered. "kattemo ii?" Can we keep him?

"Al, he's not a pet!!" he cried. "te, sono kotoba tsukauna!" and, don't use that language!

"S-sorry, habit…"

"And it's not a damned cat either!" Edward shouted. He stopped, acknowledging the young woman's confused look. "I-I'm sorry, it's uh…a code between us." He quickly said. In a way, it was true. Well, he couldn't say that it was actually a language from a different planet…

Her face slightly brightened. "I knew you two w-were close. And I can trust this man to take care of Collin too, I suppose."

Alphonse, with the look of a happy pup given its first plaything, asked almost excitedly. "'Take care'? You don't mean…"

Her body began to tense and, perhaps to steady herself, she put a hand on Collin's shoulder. "I'm afraid I cannot personally take care of him; especially since his mother i-is in Heaven in God's hands. I believe that t-the reason why she d-didn't keep in touch with you was because s-she believed Collin would only be a-an extra burden to your already busy life i-in the University." She quietly rubbed her palm over his shoulder, but the young boy didn't turn around. "I don't think she ever learned that you h-had amnesia e-either. I-If she had…" her voice trailed away and the tears began to show themselves. "I-I just don't know what to do. S-She loved y-you v-very much, Mr. Elric!" she hiccupped. "I-I can see h-how you t-treat this young man l-like a brother and I t-think you can care f-for poor Collin n-now that he is m-motherless!"

She began to sob, and Alphonse quickly fetched tissues for her which she gratefully took. "Please, I beg you, f-for Christine and everything s-she felt for you t-though you don't remember. F-for the sake of your son, please take Collin Elric under your care!"

Ed tried to assure Al that he never had anything to do with any girl in any planet, but he found that it would be unnecessary since…well, Alphonse had other things to worry about.

Like coaxing the shyness of his 'son' out of him.

"Tell me, Collin," he said very sweetly. His older brother almost gagged. "What is it that you want? Are you hungry? Tired? Thirsty? Do you want to see Aunty? It's nice that she took a job in the nearby hospital, right? We can go and see her if you want."

Collin said nothing. The child hadn't uttered a single word since their encounter and had been, this whole time, tailing behind Alphonse exactly like a kitten. When he stopped for a long period of time in a certain spot (for example, when he was cooking) Collin would plop his thumb between his lips and cuddle around his leg like a koala (yes, Ed saw pictures of exotic animals in his attempt to understand the Earth even though Alfons had insisted that it wasn't necessary to go so far). Quite frequently, he even fell asleep around his ankle.

Ed was a little wary of this behaviour, almost feeling discontent whenever Al smiled down at the kid with that twinkle in his eye. He would grunt and resume to his reading; only finding that he couldn't concentrate without remembering in the back of his mind that there's a copy of him wrapped around his younger brother's leg. It especially disturbed him when he'd greet Alphonse and there would be the toddler staring up at Ed like he was an alien. Not that he wasn't according to the term's correct definition but it still annoyed Ed nonetheless.

It was unfortunate that it was spring break, so he didn't have any work to distract him from thinking about the child that his other self had left behind. It bothered him that in a parallel way he was related to him so he was pretty much forced to foster Collin to make up for that accident. Oh, and of course, to please his now-dead conveniently parentless wife (apparently, he later learned through research, they grew up in the same orphanage and had never separated since). Christine and Edward had grew out of the orphanage together and got married since. Such a nice story if it weren't for the fact that Edward was almost forced into the draft but managed to convince Hohenheim to 'adopt' him to convince the authorities to let him him stay in the university; studying for the sake of his wife who was expecting and, it seemed, was waiting for the right moment to tell him.

That moment, however, was unceremonially destroyed when Ed came literally crashing into Earth back when Collin was soon to be born.

"Dammit," the blonde muttered. "Hohenheim bastard didn't tell me anything! He told me to forget about the past so I did but what? He had a lover? A lover he…he did that with?!" He blushed furiously, shaking along with his newspaper. "And so he had a hidden child he didn't know about so it all fell on me when I didn't do anything!? Except…!!" He threw his newspaper to the ground and sulked on the couch. "Doesn't the world already hate me enough?! What next, that it's gonna turn out that Hohenheim had a girlfriend and he forgot to 'play safe' so he…" Ed turned green at the idea and tried his best from retching at the thought. Too bad for Edward, the mental image stuck and wouldn't leave his mind. "Ahhh, son of a-!"

"Brother, watch your language; there's a child under this roof now, you know!" His younger brother crossly called from the kitchen.

"It won't matter!" He growled in his foul mood. "If we speak in our language then he won't pick it up. Even if he learns something, nobody would understand anyway."

"It's not true, Brother." A sigh and a heavy shift in feet position as Collin was beckoned off of his shin echoed from the kitchen. "For all we know the languages too could be the same. I mean, Russian sounds a whole lot like Drachman for instance…and I've hard Ishvalan before too and it kind of sounds like Arab."

Al by then had entered the living room, carrying Collin in his arms. "The names are the same too and they're pronounced and accentuated the same so we have to assume that the languages at home are the same as here; the only difference being the location of the languages. Lieutenant Havoc's ancestors came from a foreign country and his name came from it. Jean Havoc; here it'd be considered as French."

Edward's head had rolled back during Al's commentary and, still fighting the mental image, said almost mockingly, "Wow. You learned a lot."

Al smiled, sat down on the couch and said, "I have to catch up, right? Now that we can't go back…"

His older brother's eyes stared up at the ceiling again and without moving, he mumbled back. "Yup. Can't go back…"

Silence enshrouded the room, and only the ticking of the grandfather clock was heard. Even the buzz of the lightbulb was heard clearly and a dog in the distance barked its cries through the thin walls.

Collin tilted his head towards Edward, who lay motionless sprawled over the revolving sofa with his eyes fixed to the ceiling. He looked up at Alphonse, who was absent-mindedly weaving his finger through a loose strand on the couch. The small blonde opened and closed his mouth, gripping his fists tightly on his new daddy's shirt. He didn't like this silence. Not when That Scary Guy was unusually quiet and his really Cool And Nice Daddy wasn't smiling anymore. He narrowed his brow and announced, loud and clear, "Daddy? I don't like this quiet."

He earned a startling reaction. Al whipped his head down at him and jerked his knees, Ed's head flung forward and sat up straight. Yet the toddler, oblivious, continued to look up big-eyed at Al like he hadn't said anything; like he had simply tugged on his shirt like he's done for the past two weeks for whenever he wanted something.

"I…Niisan," the stunned brunette said. "Did he just talk?"

"I…I don't know, Al. I-I think he did." Ed could only stare as well.

Collin pulled on his shirt for emphasis, pouting up at the older Elric. "I don't like this quiet." He said again.

Al opened his mouth to say something but in his astonishment, couldn't say anything. Ed laughed and walked over to the two. "Looks like he has a voice after all. What, you said you don't like the quiet? Ha," he laughed again. "Kid's made a point."

Edward then plucked the little boy off of Al's lap and peered straight into his eyes. "I don't like you much but let me tell you this; I'm doing this for the sake of your mom and your dad and if anything, I respect what they've done for each other and for you. So even though me and Al can't be them for you, we can still try to be your foster parents, all right?"

Collin blinked, Al just as lost on what he said as the five year old was. Edward remembered that Al's German was still not exactly fluent, and he smiled over at Al and beckoned him over and slung an arm around his sibling. "Guess we'll have to raise him our way, huh? What do you think, Amestri-German for this little guy?"

Al chuckled and lightly bopped Ed on the head. "That sounds a little dangerous to me, though I'm not really sure why. We should just stick with one."

Ed thought about it, thinking of the language that was really all the Elrics had of the home they left behind. The words that had taught them the truth of the world, the most basic law of humanity, truths and lies that had brought them closer to the final answer, the words that they left behind to Winry and the Colonel and all the people who had loved them and trusted them even through Ed's harsh vocabulary. Their language was truly all they had.

And each other. Family. And with Collin it was another addition, a new lineage (though indirect) into the tight bond that Edward and Alphonse shared just intensified the whole point of having abandoned their whole lives in the first place. They can't go back, but they can go forward.

They can.

"I think we should go for German," he finally said, starting to walk towards the kitchen. "I mean, and I gotta say this for real." He stopped and grinned mischievously at his younger brother. "Your 'Daddy' sucks at the language."

"...Brother. I don't appreciate you picking on me," Al growled and advanced towards his laughing brother who was pulling his tongue at him. "Aw, Al, you know I don't mean it; you'll just have to learn to pretend to understand what squirt here says to you when the time comes when he'll ask what to do on his first date!" Ed sniggered at the made-up scenario. Whew, at least it made his previous mental image go away…

"You just wait, when Collin asks you how you're not his father." Al countered.

Ed froze. A new mental image. "Crap, you're right. What do we tell him then?? I don't think he'll get it if we tell him we're from another planet!"

"(Brother, the language!) What about you tell him you're Edward's brother or something?"

"(Al, I told you to speak in German!) But like, he was an orphan and he didn't have any brother. What, should I tell him when I take him to see his real father's grave that I share the same name and the same face as him? He'll be sure to freak out!"

"Niisan, calm down, you're the one that's freaking out. And it's fine; he won't be questioning anything until at least another 10 years!"

"…Al, actually, start calling me 'Ed' so that squirt here won't know we're actually brothers. I think it's better."

Al looked at him, dumbfounded. "What are you stupid? Didn't you just say that he won't learn the language, anyway? How would he know that 'Niisan' means 'brother'? Besides, why shouldn't he know that we're brothers?? You're not making sense!"

"Yeah, I am!" Ed objected. "I'm pretending to be his father though I'm not so I'm not supposed to have a brother!"

"Brother, don't pace like that, you're gonna drop him!"

"I said don't call me that!!"

"Ed, just, calm down!"

"How the hell can I now that you just called me by my first name and it sounds really creepy?!"

"You were the one who asked me to!"

"No I didn't! I just told you not to call me 'Brother'!"

"Then what am I supposed to call you?!"

"I don't know! Like…Collin's Dad or something!"

"What the hell?!"

"Al, the language!"

"You're not making sense!"

Collin blinked at the commotion and further snuggled into Ed's shirt. He didn't understand what was going on; they were speaking a strange mix of German and something else. He wasn't sure if he liked it but he knew that they weren't on each other's necks at least. He felt he can appreciate what they were to each other, this thing called being a 'Niisan'.

He wondered what it meant and he wondered if he too, can be called like that someday along with those two…

Conclusion

- uh…Collin Elric ended up learning both languages and in 1939 (at 21 years old), was recruited for his language skills in the army (much to the Elrics' dismay) especially since Amestrian in this world is Japanese and the Germans were allied with that country. After the war was over and it was safe and affordable to travel again, the Elrics left Germany and visited the grave stones of Collin's parents; who already understood that Ed was somehow not his real father (the night they sat him down to explain was mostly made up of Ed's panicking and that alone was enough to drill into his mind that no, Ed was NOT his real father) Ed found a job in the newly-found United Nations and Collin joined him as a translator to find peace between the countries. Uh…being travel-lovers, Ed and Al found their own missions and travelled far and wide and discovered Earth through their own eyes and experiences and learned far more than a common Earthling ever had. When they retired, they had great grandchildren and a traditional old apartment in Japan and cue Kids OVA. They lived to be over a hundred years old but it didn't attract that much attention since the Japanese were pretty much the world's longest survivors and also because of the whole time travelling Gate thing, they might have gained extra years (not to mention Al got a bonus on his body). With that being all warped up and Elisa failing to explain the plot holes very well, this fanfic ends with Ed dying from choking on a bean and Al literally falling head over heels over his newborn grandchild and Collin… being smothered by young immature western fangirls since he was claimed to be an extraordinarily beautiful vampire with the most romantic personality, he changed his name and lived the rest of his life as a character muse as Edward Cull-

Whoops, wrong story.