A/N: Chapter Two is up and ready to be read! Now, here's a question for everyone. How often do you even venture into the x-over section for these two stories? Hopefully often enough for this to be read at least once or twice. c:

Oh! I guess I should also mention that this is an Alternate Time-Line for both universes. Meaning that most of the events still happen, just in a different order and at a different time. It will be explained over the next two chapters, at least one of which should be up today or tomorrow. c:


Todd grinned, eyes lighting up again at his name. "Look at that! You do remember me! And here I was thinkin' you had gone blind or some shit."

Because that would have been the only explanation that didn't hurt Todd, in a way that he didn't think he could be hurt anymore. Was if there was an issue, mentally, physically, emotionally, that kept Pietro from remembering him.

But the speedster did and that made things better, easier, lifted the weight that had settled on his chest. "It's good to see you again, 'Tro."

Todd's only answer was a fist to the gut. It didn't hurt, not compared to Martel or that one man in the military, with the single curl of blond and a tendancy to rip off his shirt at any given moment, but it was enough to catch Todd off gaurd. He let out a wheeze, curling in on himself and staggering backwards.

"What the Hell, dawg?" cried Todd, over the sound of his companion chuckling. "That ain't cool!"

"Isn't cool? Isn't cool? I'll tell you what isn't cool! You leaving us without saying anything and we thought you were dead but no now you're just back here and - what do you even want, Toad?" Pietro's words were a blurr half way through, and Todd found himself unable to keep up with most of what was being said.

Straightening up, and casting the speedster a weary glance as he moved his arms away from his stomach, Todd frowned. "I ain't got a clue what you just said, yo."

"What I just said is that you're an asshole!" shouted Pietro, and then he was in front of Todd and jabbing a finger in the younger boys face. "What gives you the right to do that kind of thing, huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

Each question was punctuated by a finger being shoved at Todd's head, and the young mutant found himself leaning backwards in an attempt to avoid being poked in the eye. "Chill out, Pietro! It wasn't my fault, alright? It was Fuzz-butt's, so just chill out and let us come in."

A pause of silence. Then Pietro took a deep breath and tilted his head back. "LANCE!"

The result was instantanous. A low rumble echoed through the run-down house, dust and small bits of plaster falling from the walls. The oldest member of the Brotherhood was clearly not in a good mood - and briefly Todd wondered if he was still getting those head-aches of his.

Evidently, as the next words out of the hidden boy's mouth were an angry snarl. "Shout one more time, and I'm going to bring this place down on your scrawny ass!"

"La-ance! Lance you won't believe who's out here!" There was a soft breeze and then the white haired mutant was gone, already inside and flung onto the couch and across Lance, babbling on and on and on.

Todd blinked, and then he tilted his head back to look at his companion. Golden eyes met the ones covered by those small, dark lenses, and then he grinned. "No worries, Greed. They'll help us out."

He wasn't sure whether the words were to help ease the sudden tightness of his chest, or to calm whatever discomfort that Greed may have been feeling but not showing. Either way, Todd curled his fingers around the homunculous' hand and gave a tug, dragging the much older male into the house.

And it was worse than Todd remembered, with creaking floor-boards and light that seemed to be shimmering in from cracks in the very walls themselves. Empty too, though all the furniture was still there and just as Todd remembered - shitty and broken and stained.

Greed gave a low whistle, not bothering to hide the fact that he was looking the place over. "Wow, kid. You weren't kidding when you said this place was a dump."

Todd snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, back hunching as he slouched down. "No shit. I told you that this place was straight out of the garbage, didn't I?"

"Yeah, I just didn't believe you. And here I was thinking that the Devil's Nest was trash," mused Greed, shoving his hands into his pockets as he followed Todd further inside.

Todd just grumbled something, any real answer cut off by the fact that Lance was sitting up now and staring at him, with wide brown eyes that weren't really angry or upset, but just very much surprised. Suddenly feeling sheepish about the entire ordeal, Todd gave a small wave of his hand. "Yo."

Another moment of silence, longer then the last. Then Lance's face crumpled into that still-familiar scowl, and it was fine because Todd could deal with anger. It would have been happyness that, while hoping for, would have caught him off-gaurd and made him stutter and stammer and lose his way.

Anger was familiar.

It was something that Todd accepted with open arms, even as he shuffled away from the older mutant, until his back was pressed up against Greed's front.

The homunculous raised an eyebrow, lips twitched up slightly, but draped an arm over Todd's shoulder all the same.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" demanded Lance, shoving Pietro off his lap as he stood up. The speedsters whined protests were ignored. "No...Where the Hell have you been?"

"I, uh, I've been gone?" tried Todd, only to scramble for another answer before that one could even fully leave his lips. "And busy. Really, really busy, dawg. But I need to talk to you -"

"Talk to me?" interrupted Lance. And he looked mad, so mad, and Todd had almost fond memories of pissing off the oldest member of the Boarding House by eating the last bagel in the morning. "You take off without a word, for four fucking years, and then come back and expect to talk? What makes you think I even want to see you?"

Expected, but painful all the same. Todd found himself actually flinching at the words, pressing as close to the still silent Greed as he could get. Then he crossed his arms over his chest in an almost defiant way, one that didn't match the hurt look in his eyes at all. "I don't give a shit if you want to see me or not, dawg. I gotta talk to you so I'm gonna talk to you."

Because it was important. Needed. A priority enough that they had bribed the Elrics to open up the Gate for them, to let them cross through into this other dimension, just for a day, just long enough to get help that was so desperately needed.

Help that Todd promised to get.

He could almost feel the displeasure oozing off of Greed. "I thought you said they would listen to you?"

"They will," insisted Todd, almost petulantly. "Trust me, they're gonna. They'll help, too."

"Help? I'm not helping you with shit until you tell me where you've been." demanded Lance, but there was something different now. In his eyes and voice. It was less angry and more despondant, and then the older mutant was marching across the room and over to where his two visitors were standing.

Lance wrapped one hand around Todd's shoulder and tugged, and Greed let the boy be pulled out of his grasp. Todd went still, instinct, as he was pulled up against Lance and strong arms wrapped around him. Held him. A chin rested on top of his head and when Lance spoke next, his words were muffled by tawny hair that smelled of mint and flowers.

"Where the Hell have you been?" muttered Lance, tightening his grip on the younger mutant.

Todd didn't move for the longest of seconds, but then he was wrapping his own arms around Lance. Fingers found a hold in the back of Lance's tee-shirt and he gave a heavy sigh, relaxing against the mutant that he had missed so badly.

"It's a really long story, Lance." he muttered, eyes slipping closed.

Lance snorted. "Then I guess you had better start talking."