Thank you sooooooo much for everyone's continued support for this series! I truly hope the readers enjoy this story as well! It took a little longer to get the 1st chapter up since I wanted to properly plan this story considering some additions I had wanted to include ;)

So far, Ed has:

Been in the 1940s fighting Hydra with Steve Rogers aka Captain America;

Been flung into 2009 with Tony Stark before Steve crashed the plane into the ocean;

Fought against Obadiah Stane with a new automail arm;

Visited New York with Tony and Pepper where Ed met the Parkers;

And S.H.I.E.L.D. has been a little nosy while trying to help Ed blend into the 21st century.

I hope that covers the basics for now ;)

Enjoy!

P.S. As usual, if not specified, the chapters are written in Ed's 1st POV.

"I don't think I'm qualified for this," remarked Rhodey, readjusting his position in his seat, clearing his throat.

"Well, I definitely am not," mumbled Tony from behind me.

"Apparently no one is but can we just get this over with?" I cut in, glancing at Tony in the rear-view mirror and then at Rhodey beside me. Both shared a look before they shrugged almost simultaneously.

Honestly, I still couldn't wrap my mind around how exactly all this actually happened but…

It did.

And it could… actually be fun?

Or it could end with all of us in a wreck.

Did Pepper or Happy even know we were here or even what we were doing? That at least could be a good backup in case something happened. However, Tony most definitely would not have said anything knowing him and how little he shared. Rhodey, on the other hand… he probably would have slipped in a word.

As for myself, I hadn't because, once again, I had had no idea about this whole ordeal until we had arrived at this empty racetrack in one of Tony's many cars that now idled at the starting line.

With me in the driver's seat.

It was my first driving lesson with Rhodey in the passenger seat and Tony hovering near us in the back. I still wasn't sure who was going to teach me anything but this was at least a start in me actually learning anything.

I would be one step closer to getting that driver's license back from Coulson and actually be able to go… somewhere by myself and not rely on mainly Pepper or Happy.

And even Tony to a certain extent. However, he drove me around when he needed to get somewhere and I just happened to be tagging along. To be fair, I hadn't exactly asked him to drive me anywhere either and… the way he drove, maybe that had been the reason.

"Short Stuff, how basic do we need to make this?" asked Tony, pulling me away from my thoughts and back to the task at hand.

"I've seen people drive cars before," I grumbled, gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly.

Tony just snorted. "That doesn't mean anything. Do you know which pedal is which? Can you even reach them?"

I whirled around, reaching my arm back but Rhodey almost shoved me back, holding me in place.

"Even though it would be very amusing to witness another argument between the two of you," he began, sending us both a look, "I don't think getting Ed annoyed while handling a powerful piece of equipment a good idea."

I huffed, sitting back in my seat as I sent Tony a look from the rear-view mirror. "You hear that? You need to behave today."

He just raised an eyebrow before motioning for us to continue with a vague wave of his hand. "Carry on, I won't make any promises though."

I rolled my eyes but focused my attention to the front, readjusting my grip on the steering wheel. I could do this, it was just a matter of remembering what I had read and seen over the years and putting them into practice.

I had already adjusted everything around me so the next step was…

I glanced down at the gear shift and gripped it carefully with my automail. The last thing I wanted was to break something in here because I didn't know my own strength. I would be able to explain to a certain degree how I broke it but… my automail could only get me so far.

I still hadn't told anyone about the serum and I wanted to keep it that way.

"Ok, here we go," I mumbled, making sure the car was in drive and moving my right foot from the brake pedal to the – "Shit!"

My foot hit the brakes again after that sudden jerk forward. I had to give it to Rhodey and Tony as they only tensed next to me but at least didn't overreact to my sudden and jerky driving.

"And this is why you're learning to drive an automatic," remarked Tony, leaning forward once again. "That was your real leg! You're already earning the title of lead foot."

Rhodey just pushed Tony back, taking a deep breath as he did. "One thing to know is that you don't need to slam onto either pedals in a normal situation," he explained calmly. "Try again but slowly easing onto the gas."

I nodded and did as he suggested and… the car slowly moved forward.

Ok, this wasn't all too bad.

Yet.

"Alright, a little more gas and don't forget to constantly adjust your steering," continued Rhodey, motioning to the steering wheel. "Not moving it doesn't mean the car keeps going in a straight line."

"I could get that fixed but –"

"Not now, Tones."

I tried to tune Tony out as I followed Rhodey's suggestion about the gas pedal and the steering, seeing how much I needed to –

"You know what, test out how the car handles so you know how much to turn the wheel," suggested Rhodey, mimicking turning a wheel widely. "Have fun, there's open space all around so no need to worry."

"Alright, if you say so," I mumbled, giving a larger turn with the wheel.

"More gas so you can see what happens," added Rhodey.

I bit my tongue to not snap at him for the idea of 'going faster' but slowly pushed down with my right foot on the gas pedal.

For once, Tony did have a point that I was lucky I could use my right foot for the pedals and not my automail left foot. Hence the automatic: I had read about the clutch pedal and that honestly sounded like an accident waiting to happen to me while trying to figure out how much pressure to use when I felt absolutely NOTHING! I could possibly try to gage the pressure with what I felt from the resistance past my knee but…

Fuck that: learning to drive was enough for me without adding a clutch and different gears to manoeuvre through.

"There you go," said Rhodey happily even if were only going… right, the car was in miles per hour. 15 mph. "A good practice to keep in mind is that, to see the adjustments you're making to your steering, you need to be moving whether it's forward or backwards."

I had a subtle jerk in my steering at the thought of going in reverse when just going forward was already challenging enough. "We're not doing that today are we?" I asked, managing to keep my voice even.

"Not if you don't want to," answered Rhodey. "One lesson at a time."

"Next one will be reversing and you'll do a full lap, as fast as possible," added Tony from the back seat as he typed something on his cell phone.

"Whoever told you, you were funny had obviously been lying," I mumbled, focusing on my steering and keeping the car on the racetrack.

Tony just scoffed but thankfully let me continue to drive without anymore comments and I made it halfway through a lap at a… ridiculously slow speed.

"Want to try going faster now?" suggested Rhodey. "Not race car fast –"

"Faster than great-grandma speed maybe?" added Tony and I just flipped him off.

"Fine," I mumbled, lowering my foot even more and the car sped up to 25 mph.

There were thankfully no more comments from Tony as we did a few more laps and I increased my speed on several occasions. The more times I went around, the better I felt handling this heavy piece of machinery.

"How's the Expo planning coming along?" asked Rhodey, turning somewhat to look at Tony.

The other man put down his cell phone and leaned forward slightly. "You're looking for free tickets, aren't you?"

"I already know I have tickets," countered Rhodey. "Pepper made sure of that."

"Of course, she did," mumbled Tony, rolling his eyes. "But the whole thing is going according to plan. It'll still open in May."

"What's going to be there?" I asked, glancing at the rear-view mirror.

"Think World Exposition of Tomorrow but hundreds of times better," explained Tony.

My eyebrows raised in surprise at that and –

"Eyes on the road, Ed," said Rhodey quickly and I lowered my gaze back to the racetrack.

"So full of technological and scientific advancements of this century?" I asked, not exactly hiding my interest as I tried to focus on looking forwards and not at Tony behind me.

"Did you not know about this…?" wondered Rhodey carefully.

I shrugged. "I don't always pay attention to what goes on outside, not even with Stark Industries."

"I'll be taking that personally," muttered Tony, rubbing his head.

"You shouldn't be surprised! I've been –"

"Ed! Slow down!"

FUCK!

I slammed on the brakes, remembering at the last moment to NOT use my full strength on it and the car skidded to a stop, thankfully not having spun out after that failed attempt at turning a tight corner.

That… that had not been fun…

And my heart racing as it was did NOT help my situation.

"Short Stuff," I jumped at the sound of Tony's voice, finally letting go of the steering wheel, "physics break," he said, leaning forward once more.

"Tony –"

He ignored Rhodey's attempt at pushing him back, swatting his hand away instead. "Centripetal force, heard of it?"

I was still a little too shaken up to send him a proper glare so I just frowned as I tried to keep my breathing even.

"I'll take that as a yes," continued Tony, almost getting his hand in Rhodey's face to keep him quiet. "Know the equation?"

I finally glanced at him, my frown deepening. "Force is equal to mass, speed squared divided by the radius."

"Exactly. So, mass of this car is ridiculous so…?"

I grounded my teeth together for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and thinking over what Tony was trying to tell me. "Ridiculous mass and multiply that by a high speed squared means the centripetal force is strong even with the division by the radius. So, I need to slow the fuck down before taking a turn."

"My work here is done," said Tony with a wave of his arm as he took his seat in the back.

Rhodey eyed us both for a moment before focusing on me. "I think I somewhat understood all that between the two of you but it pretty much boils down to: use the brakes when taking a turn, ok?"

I nodded, massaging my face and then messing with my hair. "Got it. But… what does boiling have to do with anything?"

Tony snorted behind us and I flipped him off, not in the mood at the moment for his usual remarks on my inability to understand some English expressions.

It wasn't my fault I spent more time learning languages and NEW TERMS instead of those.

"The basics are, use the brakes," clarified Rhodey. "And we'll work our way to talking while driving. Do you need a minute?"

I did actually take a minute and then another, getting myself under control after that… event of me almost losing control of the car.

All because I had been so focused – fine, distracted… - by the idea of seeing all newly developed technology and ideas at the Expo Tony was putting together.

"I'm good," I finally stated, slowly maneuvering the car to a better position and resumed driving around the racetrack at a reasonable pace.

I tried to keep my thoughts on driving and not on what could possibly be shown at the Expo and, especially the possibility that maybe – just maybe! – something could be used to help me with finding a way to use alchemy and get back to Amestris. The fact that it could be all new scientific discoveries meant that I may not have had access to them and now…

I WOULD!

It could open so many avenues of possibilities!

But… That would also mean –

We all jumped the moment we heard someone's cell phone start ringing. I sadly had the instinct to jerk the wheel at the noise but I managed to straighten the car and at least slowed us to a stop. By that time, Tony had held up his cell phone, glanced at the screen and pressed something on it, holding the device in front of him.

"Miss Potts, you're on speaker so behave yourself," he said with a smirk and I just rolled my eyes.

Pepper was technically the only one out of the group of us who actually behaved…

"And why am I on speaker?" she wondered with a sigh.

"So, you don't start yelling at me in front of Platypus and Short Stuff."

"Oh, so, they are with you. That's good to know," she said, almost sounding relived at the notion.

"You hadn't told her about this?" I asked but it was more of a statement at this point considering what I knew about Tony conveniently not telling people… anything.

"You shouldn't be too surprised," replied Pepper earning a huff from Tony. "As long as you're not doing anything illegal that is."

"Us?" deadpanned Tony. "You know Platypus would have a heart attack if we did. We almost wouldn't do that to him."

"That doesn't sound too convincing," mumbled Rhodey before continuing in a stronger voice, "I'm watching both of them, Pepper. Don't worry. We're slowly teaching Ed how to drive at an empty racetrack."

There was a pause on the other end of the line at that explanation before Pepper hummed, almost sounding impressed. "That's very productive of the three of you. I'm sure you'll tell me all about it tonight, at dinner. I'll order pizza and Rhodey, you're invited of course."

He smiled and nodded. "Thanks Pepper, I'll be there."

"Perfect, I'll see you all later. Don't be too late."

"Don't eat all the pizza," called out Tony.

"Don't be late then. Bye!"

And she hung up, not letting Tony continue to argue with her and have the last word.

Good for her.

"How about a few more laps and we head back?" suggested Rhodey.

Even though the thought of pizza almost had my stomach growling, I nodded in agreement: I needed to get comfortable behind the wheel of a car and that would only happen if I continued to drive.

Then. Pizza.

I almost drove faster to finish quicker.

Malibu Mansion – Next day

I leaned forward closer to the mirror, messing with my hair as I tried to get it into a reasonable state for my run. Maybe a headband this time? I was going to be so much happier once it was longer… Maybe I can somewhat tie it up?

I grabbed a hair tie and got at least the bottom part under control but some strands still fell around my face. That would work for today and… It almost reminded me of how my hair style used to be.

Nodding to myself, I rolled my shoulders, stepping out of my bathroom and –

I heard a chime from my laptop and slowed to a stop. That had been… Oh yeah, an email alert. Technically, it could wait for after my run but…

I crossed my room and went through the new doorway in the far wall, the one that led to a separate, previously unused guest room. We had renovated it to turn it into my personal study so that my many piles of papers and books could be confined to a separate area that allowed me access to my bed and actually be able to sleep. We had moved the desk I already had in there along with the laptop. Pepper had also added several bookcases and storage in there that we had gotten together on a shopping trip.

And, even though he may not have been a part of the shopping, I was sure Tony had a hand with the new additions. However, I was also sure he would deny it wholeheartedly.

At least he couldn't say that the technological upgrades to the walls hadn't been him: a stretch of it acted as a white board for me to write out all of the notes I wanted and JARVIS could then compile it all together and send it to my laptop.

Speaking of which…

I checked my emails – my limited amount of emails – and saw a new one from Peter.

The running could wait a moment while I read it and I flopped onto my chair.

I had finally set up a new email address, separate from the one S.H.I.E.L.D. had given me and had written it out on one of the many postcards Peter, Ned and myself have exchanged in the last month.

I was almost certain they were happy about the email address considering how horrible my handwriting was.

However, we still sent postcards from time to time just for the fun of it. Peter was telling me he had been making a collection of them so I sometimes went out of my way to find some different and interesting ones to keep him amused. I glanced up at several that I had hung over my desk, several New York City landmarks pictured or illustrated on them.

And… I didn't have too much nostalgia looking at them as I had had during the trip with Pepper.

That was at least some good news.

TO: Ed ("FullmetalEd")

FROM: Peter ("Science4Peter")

SUBJECT: RE: RE: Email pen pal hey!

Good afternoon Ed! (I double checked time zones to make sure!)

I was going to say how excited you must have been to finally learn how to drive but something in the way you wrote it told me maybe it hadn't been as fun as expected :P At least you'll eventually be able to go places easily. I think. I'm assuming public transport isn't all that great where you're staying? (Not that there's anything wrong with where you're staying of course!) What I meant was… that I'm used to public transport and it's pretty handy around here and people get stuck in traffic a lot with cars. So, hopefully there's not too much traffic for you!

Yeah… On that note, I thought of another movie series for you to watch! I had really enjoyed them growing up after Uncle Ben had introduced them to me. It's called Indiana Jones (there's 3 of them!). Lots of action and some pretty funny scenes! Hopefully you like it :)

And yup! I had heard about the Stark Expo next month! I'm really excited about it and so is Ned. A good thing it's so close to our area that we're already planning on visiting as often as possible! Mrs. Sanchez from Science class is already trying to get the school's approval to do a day field trip there which just gives us another excuse to go :P Maybe we can all go together next time you're on the East Coast?

Alright, I have to get back to doing homework, good luck with your future driving lessons!

TTYL!

Peter

I smiled reading over the email once again thankfully remembering this time what TTYL meant before standing and heading out. I could think of my answer on my run. I somewhat knew what to write as a reply but… at least my long runs let me get my exercise, relax and think things through to make sure I didn't forget anything I would have wanted to add.

Running was a habit I had started not too long ago and I was determined to keep it up. I also committed myself to many more solo sparing sessions in the new gym Tony had furnished in one area of the house.

In all honesty though, I couldn't remember what had been there before the gym, the house – mansion – was too damn big… and I still wasn't sure if I had seen every part of it or not yet.

Well, in said gym, Tony and Happy had been using the boxing ring in the middle to train. I, on the other hand, used it by myself even though they had offered to let me join them on multiple occasions. The problem was… that damn serum. I would need to constantly pull my punches with them on top of making sure I was "boxing" with Happy and not using anything else but my fists to fight.

That definitely wasn't my style of fighting and I wasn't going to change now.

Therefore, I was going to stick to fighting solo and watching the two men train when it was their turn.

In the meantime, running.

I had gotten into a pattern of going around the ridiculously large property several times, getting to run along the cliffsides as well as the high wall near the street. I even went up and down the hidden staircase leading to the beach but… considering what had happened last time, I avoided reaching the bottom, let alone even setting foot on the beach itself.

At least the property was large enough to keep me busy for a decent amount of time to exercise.

As I ran, I thought over the email I had gotten from Peter, slightly impressed at how fast he replied. It usually took me several days to not only type out a response but to even remember that I had an email to answer in the first place.

My research sometimes REALLY got out of hand…

But, for my answer…

I hadn't been back to driving since yesterday so that was off the table. Peter did make a good point about public transportation though so I could look into that.

For… wherever I wanted to go, I still wasn't clear on that just yet.

And, the movies. I had eventually gotten around to watching the 'original' trilogy of Star Wars so I could at least follow the complex explanations Ned sent to me in his emails describing the 'Jedi', the 'Force' and the 'Empire'.

I did though still have an internet search window open to look up words when I read his emails.

However, I had to admit that the movies had been entertaining. Tony had mentioned something along the lines of dated special effects but, considering what little special effects there had been back in the 1940s, Star Wars was a big jump for me.

All in all, I don't think I was too worried about whether or not I would enjoy this… Damn it, I already forgot what the series was called…

Another reason to get back to that email quickly before more of it escaped my mind.

Like the idea I had for the Expo part and bothering Tony for tickets.

For Peter, Ned and their families.

Considering it was Tony's exposition – or more, his company's – I was sure he had some pull to get extra tickets for whomever he wanted. He had even mentioned something along those lines to Rhodey yesterday. However, I was also sure though that he would push my buttons and bug me about wanting those tickets in the first place.

He wouldn't let it slip by him that I needed his help for something…

I would have to suck it up to help Peter and Ned, as a 'Thank you' for what they had done in NYC and for actually keeping in touch with me since then. I didn't have many people on this side of the Gate, in this decade – century even – that I knew and they had surprisingly helped a lot to…

Feel normal.

That I wasn't an interdimensional stowaway – Tony's words.

Or a displaced teenager.

Or a phantom of a past soldier.

I was just Ed Elric, mostly uncultured, fellow science enthusiast.

And it felt nice.

Hence why I wanted to do something for them, to thank them for bringing some sense of normalcy into my life.

Add that to what Pepper had been doing in the last several months and I could almost imagine I was a normal 20-year-old.

Whatever a normal 20-year-old was…? I wasn't even sure about it…

I may actually never know.

For now, I continued on my run, letting my mind wander and just enjoy the cool ocean breeze.

I managed to get a good three laps around the large property and even went down half the hidden staircase before turning back. By then, my stomach was growling in protest so I headed back to the house – mansion… - and ran past the pool, towards the set of patio doors.

I almost flung them open to get inside, wiping my face with my shirt as I beelined towards the kitchen. I vaguely heard the television on in the living room but I was focused on getting FOOD.

"Ed, can you –?"

"Two minutes, I'll be right back," I called to Pepper, entering the kitchen and beginning to raid the cupboards and refrigerator for multiple snacks and water bottles. Hopefully this would be enough for now. If not… I would just need to go back to grab more things, easy as that.

I headed back towards the living room where Pepper had wanted me to stop for something and, as I got closer, I began making out what she had been watching.

"– with you, I'm not saying it's a new, serious fling but… He hasn't been public about these things in a while. So…"

"But that's the thing! We know about his flings! We never hear if an illegitimate love child was ever produced from one of them! This could explain everything!"

"So who's the mother? Why haven't we heard anything for so long?"

"Maybe there were legal reasons?"

I frowned at the bizarre argument that several people were having on the television as I finally entered the living room. "What in the world are you… watching…?"

I slowed to a stop as I stared at the television screen that had a large but very grainy picture displayed behind a group of individuals that were still arguing back and forth. The problem was… That was a picture at the racetrack from yesterday when Tony and I switched back at the end of the lesson. Tony was clearer in the picture than I was, having been photographed from the back and the blurriness helped but…

"Well, fucking shit…," I mumbled.

So much for normal…

Thank you all so much for continuing to follow this series! Let me know what you thought! 3 3 3