White.

I squinted as my eyes opened to meet the sight of endless white, the color filling my vision as I stared up from where I lied on a surprisingly hard ground.

"What the hell," I muttered, pushing my body up to a sitting position. My voice echoed through the room, and my eyebrows furrowed.

"What the hell?" I tentatively called out again, looking into the neverending whiteness of the horizon as my voice called back to me, bouncing off unforeseen walls. There were no shadows, no inclination of an end, only whiteness blending in with itself to render my surroundings difficult to get a read on.

"WHAT THE HELL!" I shouted into the void, hearing my voice echo back to me even more loudly than it had previously. I staggered to my feet and clapped my hands together, finding slight amusement in the echoes bouncing around the strange space.

Head turning this way and that to try and find anything besides the blankness, my eyes caught on a giant, floating gate.

"A floating door?" I questioned aloud, a dumbfounded look crossing my features as I stepped over to observe it more closely. I crouched down to where it floated above the ground, waving my hands beneath it only to find nothing underneath; it was truly just floating, rigidly suspended in the air by an unforeseen force.

"Maybe it's a ghost door," I mused, but right as I reached out to touch it, a strange voice reached my ears.

"Hello, Lynette." Startled at the voice, I spun on my heel, arms up on instinct to defend myself from the sudden intruder.

"Oh my God," I breathed as my arms fell limp at my side. The white figure grinned at me, a wide and eerie one of strange entertainment. It looked to be about my height, the white of its body outlined by a strange, crackling grey that made it stand out from the whiteness of the background. That figure… I recognized immediately. "Truth?"

"Yes. I am God, I am none, I am all, I am Truth, and I am you." Truth said, its voice embodying the multitude it stood to represent, the greatest all-in-one. I stared into its eyeless face, a smile alighting my own.

"You're me?!" I exclaimed, bouncing on my feet and clasping my hands together in delight, "Aw hells yeah my dude, that's fucking wild! You must be here to help me take over the world then." I walked over and clapped a hand on Truth's surprisingly rock-hard shoulder, nodding in approval as the omniscient being's grin faltered in a twinge of confusion at my enthusiasm.

"Just picture it," I said, eyes twinkling as I waved my free hand across the horizon as if gesturing to an unforeseen landscape, "We could rule everything, side by side, and no one could even think of stopping us!" My hand closed in a fist and I grinned triumphantly, looking back into the slightly puzzled face of Truth.

"But first thing's first, do you wanna be my best friend?" I asked with an eager look at Truth's speechless expression. The all-powerful being watched me quietly for a moment unused to such an approach and taken off guard by the blatant audacity and uncalled-for stupidity. It was almost… hilarious.

"What?" It asked, despite knowing full well what I meant.

"I said, will you be my best friend? Because I wanna be yours," I clarified, smiling. "Y'know, being God must be pretty lonely sometimes. Like, I don't quite understand how the whole collective consciousness thing works, but I doubt anyone else you see here really ever wants to be your friend, considering the reasons you usually bring them here in the first place."

"How… oddly insightful, human," Truth spoke, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a yes? That sounds like a yes," I prodded, my lips curving up farther.

"If you insist," Truth sighed, seeming to question its own existence while it did so, and I beamed.

"Radical!" I fistpumped in excitement, releasing the being from my gentle grasp. The sound of an opening door broke through my celebration, however, and I turned only to see what I now recognized as The Gate starting to move, small dark hands emerging from the black opening.

"It's time for you to go," Truth said, and I gave it a meaningful and serious look.

"Was I…" I said, bracing a hand against my heart, "Was I a good meme?"

"We are not going to answer that," Truth replied bluntly, and I laughed.

"Oh well, I tried," I shrugged in good humor, eyes dancing with light as I continued, "Alright, I guess I'll see you later then, best friend." A small lift of Truth's mouth caught my attention, but it was gone in an instant.

"Perhaps you will," it said, and I felt little hands latch onto my pajamas.

"Wait- wait what about the price?" I realized as I started to get tugged back, patting down my pajamas in a futile attempt to look for my wallet or anything of value. "Wait a minute, I didn't even buy anything!"

"It's your lucky day, your price has been paid," Truth answered cryptically, waving a hand as it watched me get dragged to the Gate. My eyebrows furrowed, but I shrugged, dismissing the red flags that went off in my head.

"Oh… okay! Bye!" I waved slightly as the whiteness of the void disappeared behind the Gate as it sealed me in.

In the darkness, I could feel the strain of more hands grabbing at me, and a couple in particular had me stiffen, blush coating my cheeks.

"Hey! Watch where you're grabbing!" I squeaked, attempting to slap the offending hands away, but before I could, all of them suddenly disappeared and I was falling.

Letting out a terrified noise, my arms flailed about frantically as I drifted into freefall, eyes darting around in an attempt to find something to grab ahold of.

Images appeared, and the next moment I realized I was surrounded by them; reels of my life, moments that I held dear and moments that I had wanted to forget, all whirling around me like a tornado as I fell.

After a moment, the falling felt like floating, and suddenly, seeing my life in perspective, everything began to make sense. Epiphanies hit one after another until I began to get overwhelmed, clutching my head as it started to ache more and more until I was yanking at my dark hair, screaming.

"MAKE IT STOP!" I cried out, face pressed to my knees as my tears were stolen by the air rushing past me. Curled in on myself, I bawled in agony, the fear of death gripping the edges of my consciousness as it threatened to slip from my plummeting body.

But just as it came it vanished, and it felt as if the last piece of a puzzle had clicked as I opened my eyes.

I was met by the sight of white light, and all at once, everything made sense.

The world, life, love, purpose…

With that, I faded into unconsciousness, letting it leave my body in peace.

Well, of course, I didn't tell the Elric brothers every part of that story.

"I didn't even remember that happening until I attempted to use McDougal's ice transmutation circle out of curiosity yesterday," I said, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand as I stared intently at the countertop in front of me. "It all came back to me and suddenly it was like I could feel the energy and the thrum of life around me if I concentrated, and upon further investigation I found that my body could function as some sort of independent conduit, and I didn't-"

"And you no longer needed transmutation circles," Ed finished and I nodded, falling quiet. "It works pretty straightforward for most basic types of transmutations I've found, but with more specific and complex goals it starts to fall short until you understand exactly what needs to occur. More advanced transmutations take practice and are often easier to get used to conducting by starting out with their respective transmutation circles." Ed's voice was quiet and technical, lacking the friendliness that I had come to take for granted. I winced, but mentally made note of his words. So one trip to the God territory doesn't automatically make me an almighty alchemical god among men, got it.

"Anyway, long story short, I'm not supposed to be here," I whispered, eyes remaining downcast as I clenched and unclenched my jaw. "I was quite literally stolen from my bed and smacked down in an alternate dimension with nothing but a deserted apartment to go off of… I just want to go home, guys." My voice cracked at the end of my sentence and I swallowed, fighting back tears.

"But if you come from a world without alchemy, how did you get here? How did you escape the toll? And how do you know so much about this world, for that matter?" Ed's questions came one after another and I shrunk in on myself a bit.

"I have some theories on how I got here, but at this point I have nothing more to go off of. I'm not going to play dumb or lie to either of you anymore, but this is really the limit of what I can tell you without large scale repercussions," I mumbled, burying my face in my arms that rested against the countertop. "I wasn't lying when I said there are a couple aspects of it that just by knowing would put all of us in far more danger than the satisfaction of knowing is worth. Just know that I had nothing to do with the human transmutation bullshit that got me here, even though I ended up getting some truth out of it."

Ed narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth again to speak, but Al shushed him, signalling that he had asked enough.

"Al, a word," Ed said simply, and the both of them stepped into the living room, leaving me to stew in my own anxiety and dejection as I heard the hint of heated whispering coming from where they had retreated to.

"Damn," I muttered, a hand running through my hair before gripping it tightly as I breathed a heavy sigh. Letting it go soon after, I rubbed my eyes before returning to my previous position, face buried in my arms as I sat at the kitchen island. I screwed up, I really shouldn't have underestimated them. I should've kept my space, but no I had to be sad and pathetic and weak enough to accept their help even though I knew that this was a possibility… I thought back to how peaceful I felt this morning, and sunk deeper into my huddle. Damnit, I really wanted to stay with the two of them, too.

Reluctantly, I forced myself to my feet with my book and the pen, moving toward the living room and attempting to quietly skulk past the Elric brothers in an attempt to quickly snatch my belongings from Ed's room.

My efforts to go unnoticed were futile, though, and the heated whispering paused.

"Lynette?" Al's voice startled me just as my hand reached the doorknob to the bedroom.

"I'm just getting my stuff," I called back, struggling to keep my tone neutral as I opened the door and reached down to grab my stuff as I continued, "I'm gonna go get my room, I'll have the front desk notify you of the number so you can come find me if you want to." Before either Elric had a chance to stop me, I darted through the living room and to the door, quickly slipping through it and shutting it firmly behind me as I raced down the hall toward the stairs.

I flopped face-down onto a pillow on my new bed, holding it tight to my face before letting out the loudest, most frustrated scream I could muster, kicking my legs against the soft white duvet in anger.

"Fucking HELL," my muffled cursing was barely audible through the thick white pillow as I collapsed into the bed with a weary sigh. Flipping onto my back, I stared at the ceiling, flashing back to this morning and groaning.

"Stupid attractive guys and their dumb tempers and uGH WHY DOES HIS INTELLIGENCE MAKE HIM THAT MUCH MORE FUCKING HOT-" I threw a pillow at the wall and it thudded against it with an unsatisfying puff, tumbling down to the floor soundlessly.

It had taken me a half hour to get the room and I had been in it already for ten minutes, and there was still no sign of the brothers. Which may sound stupid, but with how tense I was it felt like it had been hours.

I ran a hand through my hair and leased a tight breath as I tried to sort through my racing thoughts, giving up after a moment and rolling off the bed and onto my feet. I gotta go clear my head… I haven't looked around this part of Central much, and grabbing a notebook and a couple more books on alchemy sounds like a good distraction. Maybe I could even find a place to clean the jacket I just got too.

With that plan, I threw on a light navy sweater over my shirt, stuffed the can of mace I had bought into the same pocket that held my bo staff, and slung my dirtied jacket over my arm. Flipping open my briefcase that was still overflowing with money, I snatched a rubber-banded stack, shoving it into my free pocket before closing the case. I really gotta stop walking around with this much cash on me, this is easily enough to warrant my own death.

Slipping on my steel-toed boots, I grabbed the key to my room and slipped out the door, locking it behind me. After casting a lingering look at the bronze 73 nailed into the wooden door, I turned on my heel and started off toward the lobby of the hotel, eyes fixed on the carpeted floor in front of me.

Sunlight warmed my face as I finally stepped out of the building, hands stuffed in my pockets and shoulders slightly slouched as I looked out onto the street. Randomly picking a direction, I began my journey in search of a laundromat and a bookstore.

My luck had it that I found a little hole-in-the-wall dry cleaners down the street, where I received a warm greeting from a kind old woman upon entering. When I held up my jacket and asked if she could help me with getting the stains out of my sleeves, she responded with a chipper wrinkled smile and reassured me that she'd have it done by two, but I was welcome to pick it up anytime before five. Slipping her a little more money than her worn-down sign advertised for the service, I grinned slightly as I walked out, hoping that I had brightened her day as much as she had brightened mine with a couple minutes of her pleasant chatter.

My wristwatch read 11:40 and I nodded to myself, following the directions the kind older lady had given me until I finally arrived in front of a small yet classy little bookshop.

The doorbell tinkled as I pushed open the door, immediately met with the sight of wall-to-wall bookshelves filled to the brim with novels of all sizes and designs. A soft greeting came from behind the counter to my left where I spied a younger man perched on a stool, seeming to be deep into a particularly thick book.

Taking my time to peruse the seemingly endless selections, I finally found the section I had been looking for, gnawing at my lip in thought as I mulled over what titles to pick. After pulling quite a few books out and quickly looking them over, I settled on several of the more straightforward ones, focusing mostly on elemental alchemy with the exception of one that detailed the history of alchemy and its legends. It sucks, but I guess I have to start figuring things out on my own.

Adding a leatherbound notebook, a pad of blank paper, and several new pens to my pile, I set the armful down on the counter in front of the reading man. He slid a bookmark into his novel, setting it down before mentally adding up the prices scribbled on notes stuck to the inside of each book.

"Nice choices," he complimented as he packed my thick titles into a paper bag, quirking an eyebrow as his strikingly blue eyes met mine, "Seems like some fun, light reading." I flashed an amused smile at his joke, noticing that he looked to be about my age as I paid the bill.

"Speak for yourself," I quipped back, nodding my head at his bookmarked hardcover copy of The Atlas of Human Anatomy: Extended Edition with a soft chuckle. I shouldered the bag with my books as he leaned over to hand me my change, his hand brushing against mine a slight bit more than necessary.

"Thanks," I mumbled, a blush dusting my cheeks as he gave me a knowing grin.

"Anytime," he replied in a voice low enough to send a pleasant shiver down my spine, and I had the odd feeling that he meant more than

Damn, I looked down shyly as I stuffed the change into my pocket, it sure would've been nice to catch this much attention from guys in my old world. He's really cute too.

"Do you have any idea of where - or how - I could hail a cab from here?" I inquired tentatively with a quick glance at my watch, and the man's face lit up with delight as he said he'd ring one for me.

The man's name was Hans, I soon found out; a medical student charged with manning the quaint little bookstore that his parents owned and ran while they went out on a couple errands. He was cheerful, helpful and a tad bit saucy, getting me to laugh off my worries in no time while I hung around waiting for the cab he had called.

Sooner than I would've liked, a horn sounded from outside the shop, and suddenly our conversation skidded to a halt. Looking back at Hans, I thanked him warmly before I turned to leave.

"Wait!" He called, rounding the corner of the counter to stop in front of me as he scribbled on a piece of paper. He held out to me said piece of paper, grinning as he said, "My personal landline." Face aflame, I took the paper before rushing out as the horn blared again, the sound of the doorbell mixing in with a throaty laugh coming from behind me.

After confirming it was indeed my ride, I slipped into the back seat, placing my bag of books down as I buckled myself in.

"Central Command Headquarters, please," I said breathlessly to the taxi driver, getting myself organized as we started off down the street.

I let my head rest against the arch of the cab window, holding the folded piece of paper I had just received up to my eyes as I mulled over the encounter.

I wonder, I mused to myself, gaze shifting to look beyond the window at the passing scenery. If I can't make it home, I wonder… If I could be happy here. I glanced down at the paper again, and sighed. I wonder if I lay low for a couple years and create a new life for myself after the overhaul of the homunculi, I wonder if I could live with staying here… and maybe even settle down with someone.

Immediately a flash of blonde hair and intense golden eyes popped into my mind, followed quickly by the memory waking up to a comforting scent and the sight of another toothbrush resting on the sink. I visibly flinched, hurriedly shooing the thoughts away. No, STUPID, not him! Not him, I meant Hans, why are you thinking about him of all people? I chastised myself, shaking my head slightly. He quite literally grabbed you by the collar- no, stop it brain, that's not hot! He's right, what is my deal?!

I spent the rest of the ride with my head pressed against the window, face tinged pink as I battled with myself against everything that had gone down with the Elrics this morning.

"I see you found your way here after all," Mustang's deep voice sounded like music to my ears as I closed his office door behind me, greeting him with a smile.

"It's hard to get lost when you quite literally had an escort waiting for me at the gate Colonel," I responded, taking a seat on one of the couches adjacent to his desk. "I heard from my escort that you're only here temporarily, is that true?"

Glancing up from the documents he had been working on at his desk, he sighed. "Yes, I was brought down here to deal with the McDougal case. I'm currently based out of our Headquarters in East City, and I should be returning within the next few days after we wrap the case up." He reached down to open a drawer, pulling out what I guessed to be the state alchemist exam form and setting it down in my direction. "Here's the application for the state exam, as promised."

I got up briefly to thank Mustang and take the form, sitting back down on the couch to dig around in my bag for a pen as I asked, "Mind if I fill this out now and leave it with you?"

"Not at all," the Colonel rumbled, turning back to his own task at hand.

I scanned through the handful of pages, lips pursed in building anxiety as I tried to figure out how the hell I could turn this in without getting immediately ousted for false information.

"So, you and Fullmetal, huh?" I choked, whirling to face the Colonel who hadn't even deigned to look up from his work as he spoke.

"W-what?" I spluttered, absolutely dumbfounded and caught off guard by Mustang's words. I stared at him, wide-eyed and flustered, until he finally met my gaze with eyebrows raised, undoubtedly puzzled by my bewildered tone.

"Edward Elric," he clarified, and my expression only grew even more helplessly confused. "He called not long before you were due to show up, and asked me if I had seen you." My mind spun at the information.

He called Mustang, not Al? Why? He was absolutely livid when I left, I'm sure he didn't want to see heads or tails of me at the very least the rest of the day. Maybe Al came by my room and got worried when I wasn't there, so he forced Ed to call Mustang to make sure I'm okay? Yeah, yeah... that must be it.

"Well, if it's no trouble, please don't return that call," I said with a hesitant, abashed smile. "Things are a bit… complicated." Mustang chuckled.

"Leave it to teenagers to take things from meeting each other to 'complicated' overnight," Mustang commented brusquely, and my face went cherry red in mortification.

"It's not like that at all!" I squeaked, eyes shifting down to my lap as I tried to tame the warmth blooming in my face. "The Elric brothers just helped me out of a sticky situation and we, um… Ed and I had a bit of a disagreement earlier." Mustang released a good-natured sigh.

"Well, it's none of my business," he remarked, dark eyes returning to his paperwork in thoughtful consideration, "but he can have quite the temper sometimes, don't take it to heart. He did sound a bit worried, though, so it'd probably wouldn't be so bad to let him know you're alright at some point."

"Worried?" I questioned, doubtful, but Mustang merely hummed in confirmation before beginning back on his work, leaving me to stare at the paperwork in front of me absently for a couple minutes before I steeled myself to quickly blow through it.

Truth? I prayed silently, pen gripped tightly in my hand as I filled in my name, Truth, buddy, is there any slight possibility that you could back a pal up in this alternate universe? I waited for a moment, listening anxiously for a response all while feeling a slight bit ridiculous for doing so.

Depends on what you mean by 'back a pal up', a quiet voice answered, and I clenched my jaw on a gasp, wondering for a moment if I had imagined it.

BEST FRIEND! I cried out internally in relief before regaining my composure and continuing, Quick, is there any way you could give me some random information to throw on here that'll buy me some time? Or better yet, fabricate a past for me?

Fabrication is a stretch, but we can provide you with information to put down, the entity's voice assured, and I never thought I could feel that amount of sheer gratitude toward a slightly demonic-sounding voice in my head.

Truth, you're a total G, I praised, pen poised to start writing.

We'll take that as a compliment, then.

After completing the paperwork, I convinced Mustang to call another cab for me, insisting that he needn't waste the personnel to have another officer escort me back to my hotel. I arrived at the hotel after stopping quickly to pick up my jacket, pausing before my room to spot no change, the door locked just as I had left it and no note around it.

I shut the hotel room door behind me, setting my paper bag full of books down on a small cushioned chair next to a short desk in the corner. I had opted for the much cheaper hotel room than the brothers had shelled out for, determining that I shouldn't be reckless with my money when I was in possession of a finite amount of it, coupled with the fact I realistically only needed a bed and a bathroom.

Grabbing my new notebook and one of the black pens I had purchased, I set them down on the bed, rumbling through my other stuff to pick out the book I had started this morning along with one of the pastries I had bought the previous day to munch on while I studied.

Dropping onto the white duvet covering the bed, I laid on my stomach as I picked up where I had left off in the book, drawing out important diagrams and transmutation circles on my blank notepad only to rip them off and stick them between pages holding the corresponding notes I jotted down in my notebook. I can't let drama with the Elric brothers distract me from my current goal.

Before I realized it, time flew and the sun had begun to disappear over the horizon until I found myself having to squint at my book, having increasing difficulty reading until it finally dawned on me to reach over and turn on the lamp resting on the bedside table.

Wow, it's this late already? I thought as I raised an eyebrow at my watch, the bright clock face reading 9:30. Heart drooping upon the realization that I still hadn't heard from the Elric brothers (other than Ed's apparent not-so-discreet phonecall with his superior), I glanced over at where I had haphazardly tossed Hans' folded phone number on my bedside table.

Would it be so bad to call this late? I pondered for a moment, in desperate need for a break from studying but wanting a distraction from my thoughts of the Elric brothers. He seemed nice, and was definitely helpful earlier. I wonder if he's still awake?

A knock snapped me out of my deliberation, and I blanched, nerves from this morning returning with a vengeance. God, I hope it's Alphonse.

Scrambling to my feet, I padded over to the doorway and slid the little bronze cover away from the peephole, looking through it hesitantly only to meet a sight that made my heart jump to my throat.

Silently debating with myself for a moment, I finally unlocked the door with a quick fuck it, and cracked it open just wide enough for my face to peek through.

"What do you want, Edward?"

LETS GOOOOOOOO

Big moves, guys! Remembering the Gate trip gives Lynette a leg up on the alchemy game, but she's still gonna have to work hard to get through the exam, ESPECIALLY since we don't know yet whether or not she'll reveal her ability to bypass transmutation circles during it (which, if she's hasn't already gained some attention from the homunculi, she will then).

I've been diverting a little from the original plot with the whole super-early reveal of the truth about Lynette, but bringing it back to the first version of TGHB with her first encounter with Truth. Truth as a character is totally interesting and it's kinda fun to play with the idea of it being stuck dealing with someone who didn't take the situation seriously.

Apparently being besties w/ God grants some interdimensional privileges, too!

Honestly, Ed's such a lowkey worrier and Lynette is such a simp for him. And am I the only one who sees Mustang as a lowkey hot single dad whose sole purpose is to embarrass Fullmetal and friends? Yes/no?

Definitely dipping back into some of the aspects of the OG TGHB because honestly, that story definitely didn't take itself seriously most of the time and that was part of the fun in writing it.

Drop a comment on your thoughts/reactions and let me know what you think of this chapter! Your comments always keep me fired up!

Don't forget to follow/favorite this story and me as an author for updates if you're interested!

My lovely readers, thank you and until the next chapter!