Hi! I'm back from camp, and it was awesome~
I had to get back into the swing of things, so sorry this took so long! I will probably go back to weekly or biweekly chapters

Allen felt himself falling gently, and slowly landing onto firm ground. He opened his eyes, and blinked a few times to allow himself to see his surroundings. Even after a few moments, everything was covered in a haze, and he could barely pick up any details on where he was. He shifted, and flinched as his hand plunged into cold water. He pulled himself up and found that he was once again sat on the edge of a lake, the moon bright above his head, and the reflection almost a perfect opposite of what he was surrounded by. Allen grimaced as he saw himself as, skin black, and the stigmata branded across his forehead. He stared at the reflection for some time, and then splashed his hand down into the water, destroying the reflection. He slowly pulled back from the lake, and resolutely turned around to face the mist.

Then he began to walk.

He drifted through the haze, not really sure where he was going, but knowing that walking was always the answer. Soon the haze became too thick for him to see, and he found himself stumbling in the dark. His foot got stuck on something and he crumpled to the ground, everything went black before he could even hit the floor.

This time when Allen awoke, the first thing he felt was an insatiable hunger.

"I can't believe this, seriously, how can your stomach be so loud? At least we know that there is nothing wrong with it," and Allen felt himself relax back into the bed, falling into a true sleep, and no dreams bothered him.

~~.~~

Ed was sitting next to the bedside (hospital, great) and was curled up in a chair, hands clasped around his knees which were pulled up to his chest. He allowed his eyes to close as he took in a deep breath. He could hear Al's slow and even breathing from the other side of the room, where a small couch was pushed against the wall. He turned and looked at his brother, curled up in his sleep, and the hint of a smile pushed past his lips. He then curled his arms up tighter around himself.

The doctors had done scans after scans and other tests, and from what they could tell, nothing seemed to be missing at all from Allen's body. They did seem interested in the strange bone structure in his arm, but Mustang was able to tell them in his 'don't mess with this' voice that they shouldn't focus on the fact that the bones in Allen's arm were impossibly dense. Ed wasn't sure if these results were reassuring or not, because if Allen wasn't missing anything obvious, then what was he actually missing?

Ed was brought out of his thoughts abruptly by the sound of rustling fabric. He jolted his eyes from Al's relaxed form and froze as he saw clear gray eyes staring back.

Ed nearly fell forward, but managed to grab Allen's hand.

"Allen, Allen! Are you ok? Fuck, I should get a nurse-" Ed made an abortive motion to the door, but was stopped when Allen's hand curled around his own.

" 'm fine," Allen whispered, his voice was hoarse and scratchy. Ed sprawled his left arm over the one that was still holding Allen's hand and managed to snag the glass of water that had been placed by the bed. He helped Allen take a few sips, and then wiggled again so he could place the glass back down.

"I'm fine, are you and Al?" Allen whispered and tried to move up against the pillows, but Ed pushed him down with his patented big brother glare.

"We are good, nothing has happened, Mustang roped off his closet so no one has been in the Ark either. Al is here as well, he is just sleeping on the couch," at these words Allen propped his head up and managed a small smile at the sight of Al spread over the couch, snoring away.

"And he always makes fun of the way you sleep," Allen sighed and laid back down.

Ed gave a small laugh, and then he grabbed one of the pencils that had been placed near Allen's bed. He chucked it with precision and hit Al right on the forehead.

Al gave a small yelp, and rolled out of the bed onto the floor.

"Oww, what was that- Allen!" Al was by the bed in an instant, sitting on the opposite side of Ed. He leaned down and gave Allen a quick hug.

"How are you? Was it the gate? Did it ...did it take anything?" Al settled next to Allen's side.

Allen gave him a small half smile, and nodded at Edward, " You were right by the way, the Truth was terrifying."

Ed grimaced, and tightened his hold on Allen's hand, but before he could speak Allen continued on.

"It didn't... take anything it hasn't already taken? It just," Allen stopped and bit his lip then sighed, " it wanted to ask a ...favour? No I guess, demand a result? I don't know. I wants me to do something."

"What?" Al spoke calmly into the echoing quiet.

Allen shifted a bit in the bed, "It wanted me to 'return what it lost' it said that the Noah and the Homunculi were part of it and that they had to be returned...but it said I was already going to do that, and it was just letting me know?" Allen looked at them with confusion blatant in his expression.

"That... is weird," Ed's eyes shifted as he thought over the situation, "That doesn't sound like that fucker at all."

Al nodded, "I mean...Truth does things that will benefit itself, so maybe in the long run it needs those parts back?"

"Maybe it's uneven now, it has some of the homunculi back, but none of the Noah, and we did talk about them being the same kind of thing right? Lust, pride, envy..." Allen trailed off and silence filled the room again.

Ed then grabbed another pencil from the bedside, and a stack of papers as well.

"So what, we've got Gluttony and Wrath here, right? And there are 14 noah?" Ed started to write on the paper.

"I think it said something about Wrath not mattering?" Allen frowned, "I think...we killed a Noah, and he might have been wrath...does it not matter if it is with the other crowd since he is now a child?"

Al interjected as well, "Wrath here is just a kid too." Ed grumbled a little, but crossed of Wrath on both sheets.

"But Road is a kid too..well she is one of the older ones but she has the body of a kid...I don't know" Allen grumbled, and pushed his head back into the pillows.

"So in this world we have Gluttony, and the other there are twelve Noah still hanging around..." Ed growled and glanced up at Allen, "But what about the Fourteenth?"

Allen shrugged, "It didn't bring that up...I don't know..." Allen clenched his fists, " and it kept talking about the Ark, and it was connected to him? I don't..."

Ed grimaced, and Al got a flinty look in his eyes. They both looked at each other, and then a slow smile spread across Ed's face.

"Well, honestly, these aren't the worst odds we have come across, and we beat Truth's game before, how hard can it be to do it again," Ed smiled, and startled a small laugh out of Allen.

"And this time we aren't even fighting Truth..we are fighting for Truth?" Al giggled, "That sounds very dramatic."

Allen smiled as well, and slowly felt the terror creep back.

And then his stomach growled.

Allen flushed.

Al gave a small smile, "How about food first, battle plans after?"

"No milk!" Ed yelled out, and Allen just laughed.

~~.~~

Mustang grimaced and leaned back in his chair, "Why is it always you, Fullmetal? How do you always end up in the middle of every possible mess?"

Ed just gave him a shit eating grin, "Come on Fuhrer, I know you have to have been keeping an eye out for Gluttony, just tell me where he is and we can forget this ever happened."

Mustang stared at him, "you think you are just going to be able to take him all by yourself?"

"I have Al and Allen too! You know that this will be a piece of cake! Three on one, three of the best against one homunculi. And if Gluttony pulls that gate thing, Allen can just get everybody out again," Ed's grin widened at the blatant dismay that was one Mustang's face.

"You are leading up to something, what do you want?" Mustang replied, and Ed's grin faded a little.

"I'm just thinking, you have two of your best alchemist/researchers cleaning up a little governmental mess that was left behind, and helping out as well with cleaning up and-"

"Get to the point, Fullmetal."

"I'm getting there bastard! Look, one homunculi, easy, thirteen Noah, probably at the same time, with some of the people who are supposed to fight them trying to bag Allen? Not so much."

Mustangs face shifted from annoyed to intrigued, "You are saying you want me to allow some...backup for when your brother has to fight the Noah."

"Yes, and it isn't like you're getting nothing out of this either, bastard, I know you are interested in that world and how it works and the kind of powers they have over there. So what do you say, we take care of Gluttony and go about spouting your good name like loyal dogs, and you lend a few people who can help take care of the mess on Allen's side of things," Ed grimaced, but didn't budge.

Mustang crossed his hands, and then spoke, "And you say you figured out how to use alchemy on the other side?"

"We have a plausible theory, yeah."

"I will choose who goes with you, " Mustang leaned back in his chair, "and I do expect some kind of report on what that world is capable of."

Ed nodded with a roll of his eyes, "Fine, I will write up a lovely report on how many different rail cars there are, or how the gun powder differs or whatever else."

Mustang smiled, but then gave Ed a pointed look, "Does Allen know what he is going to do after?"

"Like hell he is going back to them, I'm dragging him back home if it is the last thing I do!"

Mustang gave him a look, and then sighed and returned to the piles of paperwork covering his desk. He then takes out a large folder and slides it over the desk.

"Here is all we have on the remaining homunculi, look through it, see what you can find, but I want you to take at least one other officer with you, it doesn't even have to be an alchemist. I want someone who will actually report back to me when you manage to blow up another city and not just fill in their reports with crayon," Mustang peered at him, but Ed just shrugged.

"Fine, fine, thanks for the information, Fuhrer Bastard."

Ed smiled as Mustang called out as he left, "Black Hayate does not count!"

And now we head towards the end! Holy moly who would have guessed.

Once again, sorry about taking so long, blame geothermal systems along fault planes and just go with it XD

I hope you enjoyed this chapter

~not necessarily in between