Turns Out Space Storms and Inter-Dimensional Machines Don't Mix Well

by TheFullmetalBitch

The story of how the Ed, Al, and other characters from Spirit Animals came to learn other dimensions exist and how AMA Voltron came to realise that maybe using the inter-dimensional teleduv machine with a huge space storm forming nearby wasn't really the best idea they'd had. Or, the small crossover of AMA & SA I wrote instead of my SA x Marvel story! Enjoy!

2. Chapter 2

Ed stared up at the wooden ceiling of hotel room as he waited for it to become an acceptable time for him to actually be awake so he wouldn't be judged by Alphonse, Mustang, or Hawkeye. He knew that their Animals were fully aware that he was already awake, despite the fact that all of them were dozing themselves, but they had a standing agreement where they wouldn't snitch to their humans about Ed's sleeping schedule so long as Ed got at least three hours a night. If he went more than three nights without those three hours a night then they could tattle without Ed holding a grudge. Of course, the only reason they wouldn't is if there was a very good reason for Ed not being able to sleep and Ed felt like he had a pretty good reason at the moment.

Pinako had been more than a little irritated when they'd come up to the house the previous afternoon with eleven extra people and lions and she hadn't been bothered to keep her mutterings to herself. Ed thought the grumbles about them not giving her any warning were a little unfair since it wasn't like Ed had gotten any more warning than she had and he knew Den had been keeping her in the loop since the moment Voltron had shown up. Despite her irked mumbles and threats of never letting Ed or Al stay over again if random people kept showing up looking for a place to stay because of them, Pinako had agreed to let Voltron stay in her home once Ed had told her that everyone else would be willing to book rooms in the hotel in town. The Hughes had been asked by Ed to stay with Pinako, mainly so the old woman wouldn't be by herself in a house full of strangers with only Den as company but also because he didn't think it was very fair of him to expect Elysia to walk to the Rockbell property at least twice a day if the Hughes' stayed in town with them. Though Ed didn't mention anything about not trusting Voltron further than he could throw them, he suspected Hughes knew that that was part of the reason he requested he and his family stay with Pinako and was also part of the reason Hughes agreed as quickly as he did.

Ed had been half-tempted to ask Ayala to stay with them as well but figured it was overkill, especially since he could talk to the foxes and border collie in the house and would be alerted just as quickly by them if Voltron tried anything as he would be by Ayala. The wolf in question was sprawled alongside the wall, tucked between it and the bed Ed had laid on. Al and Chester had claimed the other bed in the room and Ed knew that Mustang and Hawkeye had taken the rooms on either side of his and Al's. He could sense Nala and Soren on either side of him and allowed his senses to stretch out so he could find Leo, Lilith, and Den. He checked in with them as unobtrusively as possible, not wanting to wake them, and was happy to find that they were perfectly fine and calm, meaning there was nothing for Ed to worry about.

At least, nothing regarding their safety and Voltron to worry about. Ed felt his brow furrow as his thoughts drifted to the conversation he and Mustang had had while Gracia was giving Elysia a bath the previous night.

"So I didn't ask them but I sensed there was something else other than you being a lazy bastard dead-set on figuring out how close you can get Miss Riza to putting a bullet in you that had you four coming to Resembool," Ed said, turning to face Mustang, who had been seated on the three-seater with Hawkeye and Hughes on either side of him.

Nala and Soren immediately gave Ed an apologetic look that the blonde dismissed as he focused on Mustang and Hawkeye, ignoring the looks the human members of Voltron had exchanged. If he had paid attention, he would've had to question why the Lions and Shiro were giving Mustang a slightly irritated look. Mustang and Hawkeye exchanged glances before Mustang spoke. "We couldn't tell you until we'd received official confirmation," Mustang started and Ed felt his heartrate spike slightly as he looked over at Al. Nothing good ever followed those words and he knew it. Both Ayala and Chester pressed against him as the four Elrics waited for Mustang to continue. "Two days ago, there was a riot at Central Prison and during the scuffle, several criminals escaped," Mustang told them.

Ed glanced at Hughes, who looked unsurprised by the news but curious about what Mustang was telling them, indicating he and his team weren't investigating the prison break. He only confirmed it moments later. "I heard about that but my team and I weren't assigned the case. I think Bryan's team caught it," Hughes told them.

Mustang nodded at his words. "He did," he confirmed. "He contacted me late last night at my home and informed me that one of the escapees was none other than Archer," he revealed.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Ed swore, resisting the urge to jump to his feet and start pacing. It helped that Ayala was on his lap and Al had placed an arm around his shoulders.

Mustang gave him a sympathetic look. "I wish," he sighed. "It would have saved me a lot of hassle if he hadn't escaped," he muttered. The sound of a throat clearing irritably next to him had him continuing before Hawkeye did worse. "They haven't managed to recapture him despite extensive searches immediately after the prison break," Mustang told him, "and the main reason Captain Hawkeye and I are here is because the Investigations team assigned to the prison break found evidence in Archer's cell," he said.

"What evidence?" Pinako asked, eyes narrowed shrewdly at Mustang.

The whole of Voltron seemed a mix of confused, worried, and curious but Ed ignored them in favour of watching Mustang. "He's been planning this prison break for months. At least since a few weeks after Promised Day," Mustang revealed. "According to the notes the team found, he managed to convince several other prisoners to join him in his plan, including alchemists, which is how he managed to break out," Mustang continued. "They managed to escape quietly enough that the only reason we even found out about it was because they broke their Animals out as well. The Animals belonging to the guards in that part of the prison were able to alert others before they were knocked out or killed by the escapees," he continued. Ed felt a throb of anger roll through him at the news that Archer was behind the murders of Spirit Animals and possibly their humans. Al's hand squeezed his left shoulder comfortingly as Chester and Ayala shifted, reminding Ed that they were there.

"What else did Archer's notes say?" Hughes asked, tone a level of serious the others rarely heard. "You wouldn't have come to Resembool to tell Ed about his escape if there wasn't something more to it," he stated.

Mustang nodded at his best friend, causing someone in Voltron to mutter something Ed didn't quite catch. "His notes contained his reasons for his escape," Mustang said before he looked back at Ed. "He's coming after you," he said, black eyes flashing with worry and a protectiveness that Ed could feel echoed by Nala and every other Animal in the house. "He blames you for his imprisonment and has decided you need to pay for defeating and humiliating him like that. We have to assume he knows you're in Resembool as the tracking team managed to track him heading this direction before they lost his scent. With the amount of time between the escape and now, he could be here by tomorrow at the earliest," Mustang told him.

Ed scrubbed a hand over his face as he took a few moments to process what Mustang had just told. "Of course that fucking psycho blames me for his dumb arse being thrown in prison," Ed muttered, resting his chin in his hand as he thought about what could happen and what he could do to stop it from happening. "Ayala, Nala, and Soren know Archer's Animal so they should be able to sense him before Archer reaches us. I don't know if Chester can remember him since he only met him the once but with at least three Animals on the lookout for him, Drew shouldn't be able to get too close to us, which should limit Archer's ability to sneak up on us," Ed said. "Who are the other prisoners that escaped and joined Archer?" Ed asked, completely focused on getting the information he needed to be able to be as prepared as he could be.

Mustang pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over to Ed, who readily accepted it. On the paper, written in Mustang's neat print, were the names of six bonded pairs. Ed's gold eyes raked over the list before he held it out to Ayala and Al to read. "I recognise most of the names," Ed said and Mustang nodded.

"So did I," the flame alchemist said. "Seems like he's put together a team made up of people who you've put in prison," he said.

Al frowned, something Ed noticed out of the corner of his eye as he held the paper out for Chester to read. "I didn't recognize four of the names," Al said. "Hartman Ingram, Marius Radulf, and their Animals," Al said, eyes darting down to the list again to read the names.

"Their last names are familiar," Ed said, brow furrowed in thought.

"They're the husband and brother, respectively, of two people you arrested who have passed from natural causes while in prison," Mustang told Ed. "They were imprisoned for committing crimes not connected to their wife's or brother's crimes and you weren't assigned to arrest either of them," Mustang explained. "We're not sure why they've agreed to join Archer but we're assuming that they did so to go after you as well," he said.

Ed scowled a little as he handed the list back to Mustang. "I'm not leaving Resembool until they're all caught," Ed informed him. "As good as Den and Granny are, they wouldn't be able to hold their own against seven pairs, especially with the species of some of those Animals and the fact that half the humans are alchemists," he said. Pinako didn't do much more than harrumph at his words but Ed ignored her.

"We told Fuhrer Grumman that that would likely be the case and he's asked us to let you know that he understands and is willing to extend your leave for however long it takes to bring all of the criminals into custody," Hawkeye informed him.

"Grumman is never allowed to retire as Fuhrer," Ed said, causing several people to snort, including the Voltron members, which earned them a glance from the Amestrians.

"We've met Fuhrer Grumman," Shiro explained. "He – or the one in our dimension and I'm assuming from Edward's words, this one as well – is a good and fair man," he said.

There wasn't much more than a brief spark of pride and happiness in Hawkeye's eyes that betrayed her feelings regarding Voltron's thoughts of her grandfather but Ed could feel the pride and happiness Soren felt and could only imagine Hawkeye felt similarly. "How many of the Animals on the list can you, Ayala, and – if he joined in the fight – Chester remember?" Hughes asked, bringing everyone's attention to him and the discussion at hand.

"I can vaguely recall most of them. I don't know the ones Al named so they'll be a surprise for us but we remember the rest well enough that we'd probably recognise the Animals when they're in range," Ed told him after checking with both aforementioned Animals. "They won't be able to take us by surprise," he assured the elder man.

"You just said that you didn't know two of the Animals, though," Lance pointed out, being the first of Voltron to make a comment regarding Archer and the other escapees.

"But I know most of the Animals bonded to the people who live here," Ed told him. "The Ishvalens don't have any reason to be coming into Amestris since they're still rebuilding and they would be coming from the direction of Ishval in any case. I doubt Archer or the others will be smart enough to try and throw us off by coming at us from a direction other than Central," he commented casually.

"Who is Archer anyways?" Pidge was the one to ask, earning herself a raised brow.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Archer," Mustang said, sounding a little confused as to how the people who claimed to have known an Edward Elric for over half a year didn't know who Archer was.

"Right. Thanks. That cleared it all right up," Keith muttered.

Ed snorted, as did Al and most of the Animals while everyone else – aside from Mustang, who looked as embarrassed as he would allow himself to in front of strangers and two of his subordinates – looked amused. "Archer was a lieutenant-colonel for the military when he made the idiotic decision to try and use forceable means to persuade me to leave Mustang's command to work under him," Ed told them. "It happened probably 16 or so months ago now. His Animal tried to take on Ayala by himself and learned just how outmatched he was," Ed ruffled Ayala's ears as she grinned smugly, "while Archer tried to take me on after I told him to take his offer and shove it where the sun don't shine," he said. "I won the fight and Archer was stripped of his rank and imprisoned for attacking a fellow soldier unprovoked. Personally, I think Wrath encouraged the person who handed down his sentence to be harsher than he probably would've been since Archer was going to mess up the homunculi's plans whether he was successful in getting me to agree to work for him or not," Ed mused. "But, yeah, that's who Archer is. Didn't your Ed have to deal with him?" he asked curiously.

"Not that he's mentioned," Hunk said.

"Lucky bastard," Ed grumbled, earning himself a few understanding and sympathetic smiles.

"Gracia wants you to know we're heading out of the bathroom now," Lilith said, startling Ed a little.

"Thanks," Ed said telepathically before he repeated the female grey fox's words out loud for everyone. "Don't mention Archer or anything while Elysia can hear us. I don't want her to be worried about us or scared," he instructed, speaking mainly to Voltron, a warning tone in his voice that told them exactly how bad of an idea it would be if they went against his words.

"We won't," Lance was quick to promise, the others nodding alongside him in agreement.

Ed had been satisfied with the promise as had, judging by the looks on their faces, Hughes and Mustang. The Animals in the room had obviously not picked up on any deceit from the group as they didn't mention it to Ed or their human, which had Ed relaxing a little. He felt a flash of worry as his thoughts went to Archer and his plans but the sound of small footsteps running down the staircase and Elysia calling out to everyone in the living room brought his mind back to the present. He gave Ayala and Chester reassuring pats as Elysia bounded into the room, over to her father, and started telling them excitedly about the trip from Central to Resembool.

Ayala started stretching and yawning, pushing on Ed with all four of her paws as she did so. Ed grunted as he rolled out of bed, letting Ayala's shoving do half the work for him. He looked back in time to see Ayala yawning once more, her maw stretching wide, before she blinked up at him and gave the unimpressed look on his face an innocent one. "Morning," she offered as she stood up on the bed and stretched languidly. "Sleep well?"

"You know I didn't," Ed said flatly as he got to his feet and started digging through his and Al's suitcase. The noise of him doing so – which he wasn't trying to limit – woke Chester up, which in turn woke Al up. "Morning, sleeping beauties," Ed chirped in a falsely peppy tone and grinned when Al predictably groaned at it.

"Did you even sleep, Brother?" Al asked groggily as he started sitting up.

Ed shrugged a shoulder. "A little," he said, not dishonestly. He had managed to get a couple of hours before thoughts of Archer and what could be happening at the Rockbells had him forcing himself to stay in the bed, internally whispering the reminder that Den, Leo, or Lilith would've raised the alarm if something had happened. Al glared at him, likely trying to figure out if he was lying or not but groaned in sleepy defeat before he swung his legs over the side of the bed. The glare Ed got for throwing his little brother's clothes at his face was worth it, in his opinion. "Get dressed. We're supposed to be meeting Mustang, Nala, Hawkeye, and Soren at the café near here for coffee before we try and deal with whatever bullshit comes our way today," Ed reminded him.

"Why do you always assume something bad or inconvenient will happen? Why can't you try and be a little more optimistic?" Al whined as he stood and started getting out of his pyjamas.

Ed scoffed, as did both Chester and Ayala. "First off, don't ever swear at me like that again. When I start being the optimistic one, that's when you know everything really has gone to shit," Ed told him, turning his back so Al had a little bit of privacy. "Secondly, if I always assume something bad or inconvenient will happen then I will always either be proven right or pleasantly surprised so it's a win-win situation for me," he informed his little brother, who muttered something in response that Ed didn't quite manage to make out but caused Chester and Ayala to feel a great deal of amusement so he was just going to assume it wasn't flattering towards him. "And thirdly, you remember what Mustang told us about Archer last night. Of course something bad is going to happen today," he added.

"Whatever," Al grumbled, this time loud enough for Ed to make out. "Let's go and get some coffee," he said, his words broken with a loud yawn. "We can deal with Archer after that," he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Ed turned around to find Al dressed and as ready to go as he felt. "Yeah, probably a good idea to get some coffee into our systems," Ed said, heading for the door. "Especially into your system, judging from how dismissive you sounded about the Archer threat just now," he teased, holding the door open for the Animals and Al to walk through.

Al glared as he passed his brother by, something that's effectiveness was negated somewhat by his exhaustion. "You're just operating on fuck-all sleep and are now overtired," Al muttered. "Can't wait for you to wake up after you crash properly so I can rub this in your face," he added, somewhat vindictively.

Ed closed the door and locked it securely behind him with the key the front desk had given him the night before. "You didn't even comment on the Archer thing so, yeah," Ed said, clapping his little brother on the shoulder, "you definitely need some caffeine in your system," he said, patting the shoulder his hand rested on sympathetically. He grinned as he otherwise ignored the venomless mutters coming from his brother as they followed the two Animals out of the hotel and into town.

---

If Mustang or Hawkeye noticed the fact that Ed was walking at a speed just a touch faster than he normally did as they headed for the Rockbell property, neither of them mentioned it. Their Animals, on the other hand, weren't as nice. "You do know that Leo, Lilith, or Den would've contacted you or any of us if there was even the slightest problem, right?" Nala pointed out.

"I know," Ed said, a small sigh forcing its way through his lips. "I can't help it though. We met these people yesterday. Their lions aren't Spirit Animals and they don't seem to have any, which is just weird enough but they also claim to be from another dimension where they know a me that's from yet another dimension and the craziest thing is that I actually believe them!" he said, resisting the urge to throw his hands up in exasperation, a move that would've looked completely out of place considering Ed was using his bond with Nala to speak to her. "I know they showed us proof on that flat thing with the pictures but my brain feels like it's literally going around in circles when it comes to fully believing them," he said before she could mention the photos they'd been shown the previous day. The pictures of him, Mustang, Al, the team, Gracia, and Elysia with Voltron was the only reason Ed hadn't asked Al to commit him to the psych ward in the closest hospital yet. "Plus there's the whole Archer and his group of vindictive criminals and their Animals we've got to worry about," he added. "I can't help it," he muttered defensively.

"I'm worried about that as well but you're not going to do yourself any favours by stressing yourself out before there really is something to stress about," Nala reminded him, repeating one of her new favourite phrases.

"Yeah, yeah. I know that," Ed told her, ruffling her ears.

They rounded the corner and Ed almost jolted as he realised the Rockbell property was only another couple of minutes away. Soren hooted softly at Hawkeye, causing Ed to glance over his shoulder at the pair in time to see Hawkeye give her owl a nod. Soren threw himself off of Hawkeye's shoulder before unfurling his wings and silently making his way above and ahead of them. Ed was relieved to see the bird in the air and almost sighed with that relief when Soren promised to report back if he saw anything, suspicious or otherwise.

They made it halfway to the now-visible driveway when Soren spoke to Hawkeye and Ed for the first time since promising Ed he'd tell him about anything he saw. "It seems as though everyone is outside having breakfast," the owl told them. Ed heard Hawkeye murmuring as she passed the message along. "I can see everyone there with the exception of Pinako and Gracia – oh wait, they're coming out of the house now. I think they're carrying the breakfast food," Soren told them. "Elysia is with her father and it looks as though a couple of the humans – Shiro and Lance, if I'm remembering their names right – have offered their help but are being shooed away by Gracia and Pinako. Hughes has spotted me," he reported. "I can't see or sense any signs of any other Animals in the area," he finished up.

"Thanks, Soren," Ed said, knowing he was undoubtedly echoing Hawkeye and the owl preened a little at the thanks.

With the information from Soren, Ed and Al led everyone and the Animals still with them away from the front door to the Rockbell house. There was a quiet chattering noise that only got louder as they approached and Ed soon found himself witnessing the scene Soren had described for himself. Everyone was sitting around a large table that Pinako kept in her shed for special occasions and there were several plates laden with food on top of it. Voltron were sitting mainly at one end while their lions sat at their feet or were sprawled out under the shade of the nearby tree. The Amestrians and their Animals were on the other end of the table, with four empty seats waiting to be filled by Ed, Al, Mustang, and Hawkeye. Pinako wasn't there but Ed's ears picked up sounds of soft clattering in the kitchen and knew she was in there. Den was occupying one of the seats, undoubtedly saving it for his partner while she was busy. The sight of everyone outside and relaxed caused Ed's shoulders to droop a little in relief.

Soren landed back on Hawkeye's shoulder just as Elysia, the Animals, and the lions spotted the approaching group. "Big brothers! Uncle Roy! Miss Riza!" she exclaimed, face lit up with joy as she slid off her chair and raced for the group. "Ayala! Chester! Nala! Soren! You all made it!" she said, looking absolutely delighted about their presence.

"Of course we did, princess," Ed said, ruffling Elysia's hair as she hugged Ayala. "Couldn't leave Granny to deal with your dad all by herself," Ed said, voice teasing as he smirked at Hughes, who had started heading for them when his daughter had, though at a much calmer pace.

"Hey!" the bespectacled man protested, though there was a grin on his face.

Before Ed could continue teasing him, there was an insistent tugging on his black jacket sleeve and Ed found himself looking down at an Elysia silently pleading to be picked up, apparently having finished saying her hellos to at least all of the Animals. "You're starting to get too big for this," Ed told her, even as he picked her up and gave her a proper hug.

"Am not," Elysia pouted as she held her hands out for Al.

"Of course not. How could I argue with that kind of logic?" Ed laughed, preparing to let Al take all of Elysia's weight as they hugged but Elysia kept one hand around Ed's neck in a clear show of her unwillingness to be separated from the oldest Elric. "Oh, it's going to be like that, is it?" Ed asked as Elysia released Al from the one-armed hug he'd been given.

"Yes," Elysia said, nodding decisively and causing Ed to chuckle as she made grabby fingers at Mustang, who was able to resist Elysia as well as Ed and Al could.

"She was very upset you weren't here to cook breakfast or read to her last night," Hughes told them, an exaggerated pout on his face.

"You just don't get the voices of the different characters right," Ed said, tone faux sympathetic as Hawkeye replaced Mustang in greeting the little girl and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, which Elysia seemed delighted in. "Plus we both know you're only mildly less dangerous in the kitchen than Mustang is," Ed added, a wide grin growing on his face when both Hughes and Mustang made protesting noises.

"Maes, dear, please stop holding up everyone else so we can all have some breakfast," Gracia called from where she sat next to Lilith.

"Sorry, love," Hughes immediately apologised before taking the lead and started heading for the table, knowing the others would follow.

Elysia did decide to sit at the table by herself but she stole the seat left for Mustang so she could sit in between Ed and Al, leaving Mustang with the choice of standing or sitting next to Hughes. The pout Hughes gave Mustang when the flame alchemist seemed to contemplate his options had several people snorting in amusement. No one had dared to start helping themselves until Pinako had given the nod for them to do so and Ed found himself wondering whether Voltron had experienced mealtimes with Pinako before and added that question to the list of ones he wanted to ask the group since he and Ayala had decided not to interrogate them immediately after Pinako had agreed to let them stay with her for the two nights it'd take for Allura to get enough energy to fuel the device attached to her wrist.

Breakfast passed by with Elysia and Pinako being the main storytellers for the meal. Elysia kept them entertained with stories of the previous five days that Ed, Al, Ayala, and Chester had been in Resembool for while Pinako brought up small tales of Ed and Al's childhood as well as any gossip she'd heard in town around the rebuilding of Ishval or anything else she thought might be of interest to Mustang or the military. The Animals, for the main part, were keeping their attention on the surrounding area, staying alert for any sign of an Animal who was on Mustang's list. Ed knew he wasn't the only one to notice the looks he was getting from some of the Voltron members. He also knew he wasn't the only one to notice what those looks meant or that it was obvious that Voltron was doing their level best to stop themselves from voicing a comment they shouldn't have been able to if Ed and most of the others were as unknown to them as they were to everyone at the table.

Then there were the lions with Voltron to keep Ed's mind half off the stories Elysia was sharing. Nala had told Ed as they were walking to the hotel the previous night that she'd noticed the lions' had appeared jealous and grieving when Ed had shown Nala or any of the Animals the smallest amount of affection during the time they'd appeared and those staying in town had left for the night. Now that he was watching the lions for those reactions, he could easily see them whenever he gave Nala, Ayala, Chester, or whichever Animal was closest to him a pat. He remembered being told that the Ed that Voltron knew was bonded to the lions and had to assume that the lions' reactions were because of that. He did feel a little guilty about the fact that it was obvious that the lions – and the humans with them, for that matter – were struggling with being somewhere so obviously familiar and yet completely different but he buried that guilt. It wasn't like he could do anything to change the situation for them.

"What are your plans for today, boys?" Pinako's question brought Ed out of his thoughts of questioning Voltron about the lions and their Ed's bond with them and he shrugged alongside Al.

"I gotta do that paperwork that Mustang brought with him so he doesn't get shot by Miss Riza, lectured by a higher-up, or both," Ed told him, smirking when Mustang groaned, knowing that Ed would never let him live this down for the foreseeable future, "then Al, the Animals, and I will probably spar together since we have Nala with us to make it extra challenging," Ed said, sharing a grin with the lioness. "Other than that, I don't think we have any other plans," he added, looking over at Al to see if he had anything else to add.

"We should probably do a check on our property. Make sure there's nothing wrong with the boundary fences," Al suggested quietly.

Ed nodded at him. "Right, we also need to do that," Ed said before he looked back at Pinako. "Why? Do you need us to do something?" he asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice. Most of the few days they'd already spent in Resembool had passed by with Pinako finding a chore or ten for them to do.

"Yeah, you can keep them entertained and out of my house in case I get patients come in to be patched up," Pinako said, gesturing with a gnarled hand at Voltron.

Ed glanced at them before sighing. "Shoulda seen that coming," Ed complained. "Fine. After I get that paperwork done, Al, the Animals, and I can take them up the back of the property," Ed said. "That should keep them out of sight of most everyone," Ed said. At Pinako's unimpressed look, Ed scowled at her and said, "well, it's not like I can guarantee that the neighbours or their Animals will keep their damned noses outta our business. It's not like there's anything else for them to do to keep themselves going mad from boredom."

Pinako had the decency to concede to Ed's point, albeit silently. She then turned her attention to Shiro and Allura, the two leaders of Voltron. "Assuming you're all okay with that?" she asked, though it was somewhat obvious what she expected the answer to be.

"Yes, ma'am," Shiro said with a dip of his head while Allura and his teammates nodded their agreement to the plan.

"Good," Pinako said and with that, the conversation topic was dropped.

"Are you sure it's wise to leave the house, Ed?" Hawkeye asked, voiced pitched low so that Elysia couldn't hear her.

"We can't keep Voltron around here. You heard Granny. She's bound to have patients and they'll ask questions about the strangers and we don't have a good and convincing story to explain them and their clothing," Ed whispered back. He knew everyone else was doing their best to listen to him, relying on their Animal or Lion to relay what he was saying but he didn't care. "Besides, if Archer turns up today, I really do not want to have to worry about protecting Granny's house from potential enemy fire while trying to keep an eye on everyone else and fight whichever idiot comes at me first," he told her. "The clearing is a decent size and since Al, the Animals, and I know the area better than anyone on that list, we'll have the home advantage," he added.

Mustang and Hawkeye shared a look but before they could either agree with Ed or counter his argument, a young voice piped up. "Can I go with you, big brothers?" Elysia asked, turning pleading eyes onto Ed.

Ed noticed the yellow lion shift, as though she was about to get up and somehow promise Elysia that she could definitely join them before Hunk placed a hand on her head, stilling her. "You know those eyes don't work on me, little miss," Ed admonished her lightly, though he was unable to keep the fond smile off his face. "Besides, you have to ask your parents first. Maybe they need you to stay with them for the day," Ed told her, bopping her lightly on the nose before going back to the last of his breakfast while Elysia turned her pleading eyes on her father.

Gracia and Hughes shared a look, obviously debating whether it would be safe for Elysia to accompany Ed, Al, the Animals, and Voltron to the clearing with the possible danger of Archer and his group of escaped criminals turning up. "Oh, but Elysia, I was hoping you would want to stay here and help me with some baking I wanted to do for Pinako and your big sister," Gracia said after a few moments of silent conversing with her husband.

Elysia looked torn between pleading with her parents to let her go with Ed and Al and agreeing to help her mother in the kitchen. "What about you stay here with your mum while she does the baking then come with us after lunch?" Ed suggested. "We'll be going over to our property to check on the fences and make sure it's all in order. I know it's not as exciting as seeing Al get his butt handed to him by Ayala, Nala, and Chester but you'll be able to explore more since there won't be as many trees you might get lost in," he said, grinning when Al made a noise akin to an angry cat at the comment about him.

Elysia still didn't look convinced so Al decided to do his best to add something that would convince the little girl to stay with her parents at the house. "Plus, Voltron will probably have finished talking with Ed about whatever they want to so they'll probably have the time to answer your questions while we're checking on our land," Al pointed out.

That seemed to be enough to tip the scales for Elysia and she gave a nod paired with a bright smile. "I'll stay and help Mummy!" she declared.

"We're looking forward to tasting lots of yummy stuff from the two of you," Al told her with a bright smile of his own.

"I'll sure there's lots and lots there for you, big brother Al!" Elysia promised.

"You have to finish your breakfast before we do any baking, missy," Gracia gently chided her before Elysia could get out of her chair, as she'd been about to do.

Looking down at her still half-full plate, Elysia gave her mother a sheepish smile. "Okay, Mummy," she said before she picked up her fork and started eating once more.

"It's a shame I'm not going to have you there to help me make sure Ed doesn't get into any trouble though," Al sighed, giving Ed a teasing grin that Ed responded to with an unimpressed look.

The pout Al gave him as he rubbed the smarting part of his shoulder had Ed rolling his eyes. "You should know better by now than to sass me while in striking range," Ed chided him.

"Yeah but did you have to hit him hard enough that I'd feel it?" Chester grumbled from where he lay at Al's feet.

Al's betrayed gasp at his leopard was all but covered by Ed saying, "sorry, Ches, but you know I can't let him get away with that kind of crap or else he'll think he can do it all the time," Ed said, reaching down to pet the leopard.

"I guess I'd better start thinking of something Elysia and I can put together something for you guys to have for lunch since I'm assuming the paperwork Roy needs Ed to do won't take all that much time," she said, glancing at Mustang, who nodded.

"Shouldn't take long at all, Gracia," Mustang promised her.

"And yet, you still put getting me into the office and doing it off until the last possible moment," Ed said, eyes glinting mischievously. "Wow, Mustang. Just when I thought your laziness couldn't reach another level," he said, his voice filled with a false awe that had half the table sniggering into their plates while Mustang glowered at him. "Miss Gracia, you don't have to worry about putting food together for us. We can come back here for lunch before we head over to mine and Al's land to check on it," Ed said, turning his attention to Gracia.

"Are you sure?" Gracia frowned, not looking certain and it wasn't like Ed could truly blame her considering his record for actually being on time was far shorter than his record for being late.

However, he kept those thoughts between himself and Ayala as he nodded emphatically. "Absolutely. We did promise Elysia we'd swing back for lunch and to pick her up," he reminded her. "I'll even have one of the Animals staying here give me a heads up for when it's nearly lunchtime," Ed promised her and was happy to see her relax.

"I'm sure Lilith or Leo will be happy to act as messengers," Gracia said, smiling down at the two foxes.

"I'll do it," Lilith immediately volunteered, earning herself a grateful look from Ed, Gracia, and Leo.

"Thanks, Lilith," Ed said, giving her a warm smile. He noticed that the exchange with the vixen had earned him some more curious looks from Voltron but he decided he still wasn't going to worry about it.

Hawkeye and Soren seemed to be talking as everyone started doing a slow pack up of breakfast, which included handing over any leftovers to several delighted Animals and lions. Ed wasn't paying much attention to the pair as he scraped clean a plate of eggs into the dish Ayala had been eating from while Alphonse gave Chester the last bits of buttered toast however his attention was soon caught when Hawkeye cleared her throat. "Soren would like to accompany you today, if you don't mind, Ed," Hawkeye said. Even though it was very rare that Soren would leave his partner's side, the threat of Archer possibly being nearby was enough to have him leaving her side. "He doesn't often get the chance to explore wooded areas like this," she offered as an explanation but Ed knew the owl was really accompanying them to keep an eye out for Archer and his cronies from the sky, which the blonde appreciated since Soren was the only flier in the group.

"Yeah, that's no problem, Miss Riza, Soren," Ed said, giving the owl a smile. "You can help me make sure Al doesn't get his arse too badly kicked," Ed said, a teasing look being aimed at his unimpressed brother.

"We'll see whose arse gets handed to them worse by the Animals after your spar with them," Al muttered at him.

"Yeah, yours," Ed told him, tapping his cheek and shifting out of range of the retaliatory strike Al tried to get him with. "You'll get there one day but until then, I'm gonna keep bragging about the fact that you can kick my arse in a spar but I hold my own against the Animals better," he smirked.

"Arsehole," Al grumbled even as he focused on gathering more plates together.

"I know," came the almost gleeful response from Ed, who also had an armful of plates. While the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, Ed decided to address Voltron for the first time since he and the others had arrived that morning. "We'll start heading out once breakfast has been cleared up," he told them.

"No worries," Shiro said, giving him a good-natured, if not a bit strained, smile.

Ed didn't get the chance to try and figure the reason for the strained part of that smile since Shiro and the others started pitching in to help with clearing the table. Ed could sense the suspicion coming from all of the Animals, even Den, who was inside with Pinako, but sent out a wave of warmth that's purpose was to soothe. He knew why they were suspicious and it was the same reasons why Ed still didn't trust Voltron, the whole "only knowing them less than 24 hours" thing notwithstanding. There were still plenty of reasons for everyone to be wary of the strangers and though they had been doing their best not to, their slips where it was obvious that they knew far more about them – Hughes and the Animals excepted – than the Amestrians knew about Voltron still had everyone's metaphorical hackles up. Between the suspicion aimed at Voltron and the news about Archer, Ed felt like he could pretty much guarantee a fight would happen by the end of the day. The soft snort Ayala gave told Ed that she felt the same way.

---

Ed felt mildly ashamed of the small amount of annoyance he could feel inside of himself by the time they reached the clearing at the back of Pinako's property that Ed and Al had mutually agreed would be a decent size for their spar. The annoyance was entirely owed to Voltron and the reason Ed felt ashamed about it was the same as the reason why he was annoyed. The almost hour-long walk – mainly thanks to Soren and Nala wanting to check for signs of people or Animals passing through recently – had been done in silence between the group, for the most part. There had been an attempt at conversation at the start of the walk between Ed, Al, and Voltron, mostly around Spirit Animals and the Animals with them but more than once one of the Voltron team slipped and made a comment that was obviously about their Edward that had the group falling silent until the next attempt at conversation was made.

"I don't want to sound pushy but are we nearly there?" Hunk asked, getting Ed's and Al's attention.

"Just about," Ed told him as they stepped through the tree line and into a massive clearing the size of one of Central's smaller parks. "Now we're here," he said as they came to a stop. Nala, Ayala, Den – who'd decided last minute to join them –, and Chester immediately headed out to explore the clearing while Soren soared above them, using his ability to fly to check the area from the air.

"Oh," Hunk chuckled, obviously a little embarrassed. Ed glanced over in time to see Lance pat his friend's arm comfortingly.

Ed looked up when he sensed Soren above them and relaxed when the owl reported he had nothing to report. The owl swooped off once more and Ed knew he would be doing irregular sweeps of the area to keep an eye out for any danger, which Ed appreciated, even as he informed Soren that he wouldn't be happy if he had to take the bird back to Hawkeye unconscious because he tired himself out. The eyeroll Soren gave him was one Ed was impressed by, which caused the owl to send some amusement through their bond.

Before Ed could say anything to the owl, Al was speaking. "Nala, Ayala, Chester, wanna spar?" he asked the Animals.

"Like you and me vs. them or all three of us against you?" Chester asked, his voice ringing in Ed's mind.

"All three of you against him," Ed decided for them, pretending not to realise that Al had volunteered to go first so Ed could ask Voltron some questions. "I'm looking forward to the three of you kicking his arse again," he said, a smirk on his face.

Al rolled his eyes at his brother but nodded. "You three against me," Al told Chester, speaking aloud.

A spark of challenge lit up in all three Animals eyes and with a final check with Ed to make sure he didn't want any backup, they all nodded. "Let's do this," Ayala said, sounding somewhat gleeful at the idea of joining Nala and Chester in a spar against Al.

"Remember: don't injure each other badly enough that you can't patch yourself up," Ed called after them as the four of them headed away a bit so they were in the clearing.

"Is Al going to be okay going up against a wolf, a leopard, and a lioness alone?" Lance asked, blue eyes filled with a concern that had Ed both irked with it – Lance didn't know this Alphonse at all, after all – and warmth that he was concerned at all.

"He'll be fine," Ed said with a casual shrug. "We normally go up against Ayala and Chester by ourselves anyway. Nala's just an extra challenge," he said before he sat, subconsciously prompting the others to do the same.

It seemed as though his assurances weren't as reassuring as he'd hoped since the members of Voltron were still watching Al with concern. It only took a few moments for one of the members to notice the look on Ed's face. "I'm sure he wouldn't be if you both didn't think it was a good idea but is it a good idea for any of you to be sparring when Archer or the other criminals might be out there?" Hunk asked, his tone nervous and worried.

Ed watched as Yellow, who Hunk was leaning slightly against, butted her human's arm lightly with her head in a show of comfort. It was still a little weird for Ed to see animals that were certainly no ordinary common animal but also weren't Spirit Animals. Even though Voltron had explained in length the bond they had with the Lions, something similar but completely different to the bonds Ed had with Ayala, Chester, and all of the other Animals here, things like the Lions so obviously understanding a conversation and comforting their human made Ed think of them as a Spirit Animal for a split second before he remembered they weren't.

Ed shook himself out of those thoughts as he answered Hunk's question. "They're not going to go full out in this spar," Ed told him. "They'll put just enough effort into it to make it look as though they are but it'll be mainly for show," he said. "No one who knows anything about us would expect us to come out to this kind of area and not take advantage of the clearing somehow and it'll give whoever might be watching the impression that we don't know about the threat and that they'll have the chance to take us by surprise," he explained. "Their Animals might sense Soren above us but they could dismiss him completely by assuming he's taking the opportunity to stretch his wings, especially if he lands every now and then," he continued. "With the three Animals "sparring" with Al and my back to them, I'm hoping that anyone who might be watching us will be reporting the spar to everyone else through their Animals. If any of the Animals tell me they've sensed Spirit Animals in the area that belong to the escapees, Ayala will conveniently be injured badly enough that I'll need to get up to check the injury for myself. If they're smart – or dumb, since this is a trap – they'll try and attack me while I head for Ayala," he told them.

Allura, who was sitting regally between Shiro, Pidge, and their Lions, frowned slightly in concern. "Isn't that dangerous though?" she asked, her accent throwing Ed off a little, as it had done each time he heard the unfamiliar lilt. "What if you don't sense their attack in time?" she asked, fretting a little.

Ed had to forcibly remind himself that the reason Allura was so concerned about him was because she was thinking of their Ed so he didn't blush or do anything of the like. "Ignoring the fact that the best way for them to try and attack me – since Mustang didn't tell me they were armed with weapons, meaning they likely aren't – will be with alchemy and I can sense alchemic surges nearby, Ayala will sense the attack and either tackle me out of the way or tell me what to do so I can dodge it," he told her, unable to keep his irritation at being questioned about his plan at bay completely. "And that's assuming Soren doesn't give us the heads up about them being nearby, which I would be extremely surprised by since nothing much gets by him," he added, almost grinning when he felt Soren preen a little at the compliment.

"I didn't mean for my concerns to sound like criticism," Allura said, tone genuinely apologetic. "I am merely concerned for your safety. This Archer person sounds dangerous, as do the other criminals with him," she explained.

"I appreciate your concern, Miss Allura, but this isn't the first time we've gone up against people and Animals with a grudge against us and it likely won't be the last time," Ed informed her. "I'm not asking the eleven of you to put yourselves at risk for us either. Archer and the others are after me, Al, and our Animals. There's no need for you lot to put yourselves in danger for us," he told them. "In fact, I'm gonna ask you lot to stay out of it, if there's a fight today," Ed said.

Though he wasn't sure what kind of reaction he was expecting in response to his words, Ed found himself surprised by the reaction he got. "All due respect, Edward, but if there's a fight today, we're not going to just sit by and do nothing," Shiro informed him.

"We wouldn't do that even if you were someone we'd only met a few moments ago," Lance told him. "We're Voltron. Our job is to help people who need it, whether they ask for it or not. We don't sit on the sidelines if we're able to help," he said, leaving no room for argument in his tone.

"You've never fought against an alchemist before," Ed argued back. "Or, I should say, you've never fought against alchemists with these specialties before," he amended himself before one of them could remind him about Haggar. "And that's not mentioning the fact that I'm not the Edward you've fought alongside with before. We may be similar but if your Ed doesn't have a Spirit Animal, his training would've been different than mine," he pointed out. "No offense intended but the chances of you putting me, Al, or the Animals here with us in danger because you ignored my advice and got involved are too high for me to be comfortable risking it," he said.

"I think you may have offended them," Den observed and Ed winced as hurt and anger flickered across everyone's faces.

"You've always been blunt and most people appreciate that most of the time but maybe you should've been a little less so just then," Ayala commented.

"Little late for your advice now, isn't it?" Ed snarked through their bond.

"It's not like this would be the first time we've been in a fight," Pidge told him, irritation in her tone.

"All of us are skilled fighters and we know how to fight alongside other people," Keith damn near spat at him, causing Ed to glare at him.

"Be that as it may," Ed said, nearly grounding out his words as he kept himself from snapping at them, "I don't want to risk us getting hurt – any of us – because you lot mistake me for your Edward and expect me to act like him during the fight," he said. "I know you'd try your best to keep the fact that I'm not him in your mind but you've already slipped a few times with that during the time you've been here and it's not like remembering who I am will be the most important thing if a fight happens," Ed told them. "I wouldn't blame you if someone got hurt because of that but I also don't want to risk it so if a fight happens today, stay out of it," he said firmly.

"We understand your concerns," Shiro said, raising a placating hand as though he expected Ed to start cutting him off, "and they are valid. I know I've slipped plenty of times and gone to treat you like our Edward despite the fact there are several blindingly obvious differences – it is pretty hard to ignore Ayala, Chester and the other Animals when they're right in front of you – and I'm sure the others have made that mistake as well," Shiro said, "but as Keith said, we are skilled fighters and we regularly fight with aliens whom we've never seen before, let alone interacted with. We're capable and efficient at reading the field and predicting our allies movements successfully enough to not be in their way," he told Ed, who just knew his disbelief was more obvious than he wanted it to be. "We wouldn't risk an ally if we thought we'd only get in the way during a fight," he insisted.

Ed frowned a little as he took in those in front of him. "I believe them," Den said, apparently deciding to add his two cents. "Shiro sounded very genuine and none of the others gave me any indication that they disagreed with his words," he told Ed.

Ed gave a small sigh. "Thanks," he said to the collie dog before he addressed Voltron. "That doesn't negate the facts that you'd be going up against alchemists whose specialities you don't know and most of you don't have weapons of your own," the blonde pointed out.

"Ed, I've got three Animals that I can sense malicious intentions from heading for you and the others," Soren said rapidly. Ed felt himself stiffen momentarily before he forced himself to relax as Soren continued. "I haven't seen their humans yet but I'm certain their Animals know I'm here so they're going around me to stay out of my sight," he told him.

Both Lance and Shiro opened their mouths, likely to offer a counter argument, but closed them when they noticed the way Ed stiffened. "That was quicker than I expected," Ed muttered, both out loud and through his bonds so everyone heard him. He trusted Soren was keeping Al apprised of everything as well so he didn't bother asking Chester to do the same. "Where are you and what direction are the Animals heading from?" Ed asked, speaking softly, just in case there was someone nearby who he didn't want to overhear the conversation.

"I'm on the other side of the field with Al and the three Animals directly between you and me," Soren told him. "The Animals I can sense are approaching from directly in front of me and to my left. I can sense seven Animals. I'm positive one of them is Drew and he's heading for me," the owl reported.

Ayala let out a convincing yelp just as Ed said, "he's probably going to try and take you out so we don't have air support." The blonde got to his feet, just as Voltron did but his mind was off their interrupted argument as he turned on his heel to put his plan into action. "Get yourself as close to us as you can without tipping everyone off," he instructed as he lightly jogged towards his Animal, who was laying sprawled on her side and breathing heavily while Al gave Ed a very believable guilty look as the other two Animals seemed to switch between fussing over Ayala and watching Ed approach.

He made it almost halfway between the two groups when Ayala shouted, "DROP!" in his mind just as he felt a small alchemic surge from somewhere in the trees off to his left. Ed didn't hesitate to obey and hit the ground just as a boulder half the size of him sailed over his head and landed barely two metres behind him. The force it had been launched had it half-buried in the soft earth and Ed spared a split second to be thankful to Ayala's warning.

The blonde got to his feet just as Ayala, Al, Chester, Nala, and Den headed for him. He glared in the direction the boulder had come from but nothing followed it. "I know you're in there, Archer," Ed called out, his voice clear and even. His hands were raised, ready to clap when he needed to and he was glad to see Voltron were standing off to the side like he had asked them to. "Why don't you and your fellow criminals come out here instead of hiding in the trees like a bunch of cowards?" he goaded, hoping to draw at least some of the humans out into the open.

Nothing sounded for a few moments except the usual noise of the woods and his own breathing but Ed's golden eyes soon picked up on movement in the trees as a lone figure emerged. Archer looked closer to how Ed remembered him mid-way through their last interaction than how he had looked during their first meeting. His hair wasn't combed back neatly and looked greasy and unwashed while the clothes he was wearing were ill-fitting, likely because they belonged to some poor stranger who'd left them on the line to dry. His blue eyes were narrowed hatefully as he came to a stop ten or so metres out of the treeline. "Major Elric. Or, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric, I should say," Archer greeted coldly. "Congratulations for your promotion are in order, I suppose. I would've given them sooner but I was regretfully unable to on account of being in the prison cell you put me in," he said.

"That you put yourself into," Ed corrected him, shifting further into his fighting stance as Al, Nala, Ayala, Chester, and Den took up position around him. "I didn't make you attack me on the base and I didn't make you continue that fight even when it was plain to see you were undeniably outmatched," he snarked.

"I told Roy as soon as Soren gave the warning. He, Hughes, and Riza are on their way here but it'll take them some time," Nala said to Ed as she snarled warningly at Archer, who had shifted like he had been about to take a step forward.

Ed acknowledged her words just as Archer snarled, "I wouldn't have done that if you had've just cooperated like you were supposed to."

"And work under a slimeball like you?" Ed snapped at him. "You couldn't have gotten me to do that even if you'd offered to make sure Promised Day wouldn't happen," he informed him.

Archer's eyes flashed with anger and Ed found his gaze drawn to the treeline once more as more figures emerged. "It doesn't matter," Archer said decisively. "It's all in the past, after all." Archer made a sweeping gesture to the newcomers, all of whom were looking at Ed with anger in their eyes. "What matters is the present and the eleven of us have one goal in common," the disgraced lieutenant-colonel said. "We'd ask you to not bother fighting back but where's the fun in that?" he said, smirking as three of the men and women stepped forward, touching something on their wrists. One, however, stepped backwards a couple of metres and sent alchemic energy surging skywards from the object they held in their hands.

Ed glanced at Al and nodded. Simultaneously, the pair stepped forward, putting themselves in front of the Animals and clapped their hands just as the three other alchemists activated their arrays. Ed's stone hands caught two of the boulders launched at them while Al's wooden spikes stopped the ice spikes sent for them. The Animals raced past their humans and were met by the Animals belonging to the enemy. Ayala found herself up against a mountain goat while Chester was holding back another leopard. Nala went straight for the charging hippopotamus, her claws extended as she kept herself out of the way of its powerful jaws and Den got the last Animal to join the fight: a serval. Ed knew Soren was still keeping Drew busy which left two Animals unaccounted for but his thoughts weren't allowed to linger on the missing Spirit Animals for too long.

The three non-alchemists charged into the fight, armed with nothing but their bare fists and/or knives they'd pilfered from somewhere, obviously hoping that they'd manage to inflict some damage while the brothers were preoccupied. Ed clapped once more and produced his automail blade while Al pulled out his set of throwing knives Hughes had insisted the pair carry with them today. While not the best for parrying another weapon, they worked well enough that Al didn't bother wasting alchemic energy creating bigger knives for that purpose. Ed was forced to leap to the side to avoid the quicksand that appeared suddenly at his feet.

"Warn Al that the alchemist with the scar over his left eye is the Quicksand Alchemist," Ed ordered Chester as he clapped and stabilised the quicksand pit, making it solid ground once more.

Just as the leopard acknowledged his words, Ed got a message from another Animal. "I can't take Drew down by myself. I'm not able to get close enough to him," Soren told the blonde.

Ed saw Al twitch a little as he threw one knife at one of the non-alchemists and block the ice shards sent by the disgraced ex-Ice Alchemist with an earthen wall of his own, telling Ed Soren had spoken to them both. Ed heard several gasps from the direction Voltron were standing when he was hit hard by the pillar of ice that Al had been too distracted to notice the Ice Alchemist had sent Ed's way at the same time as her last attack. "Fucking Thome," Ed wheezed as he picked himself up, grateful for Ayala's warning to alchemise his blade away so he didn't impale himself. "Right, Soren, start bringing Drew this way," Ed ordered as he checked on Ayala. "Aya, ready to be done with Osane's Animal?" he asked.

"More than," his wolf snarled as she dodged another swipe from the goat's large horns. She'd already caught them once across her ribs and wasn't keen to let the Animal get another hit in.

"Awesome," Ed said as he got to his feet and dodged the fist aimed for his face. "Just let me deal with this first and I'll be with you," he said as he grabbed the closest arm of his newest opponent and slammed his automail elbow into the shoulder joint hard enough to produce a wet tearing and popping noise as he dislocated the shoulder and tore the muscles around the joint, causing the man to howl in pain. "Shoulda learned from last time, Sewell," Ed told him as he let the man drop to his knees. His little grass snake slithered out his chest pocket to comfort him as he cradled his now-useless arm to his chest as tears of pain streamed down his cheeks.

"Ready when you are," Ayala told him as she leapt to the side, letting the mountain goat slam into a nearby tree and daze itself.

"Wood," was all Ed said to her and she immediately followed his plan. As soon as her front paws were on the tree trunk the goat had hit, Ed used their bond to create the needed circle. The goat was soon secured by the wood of the tree and unable to move, despite its best attempts to do so and escape. "Help Nala," Ed ordered as he watched the lioness narrowly escape the rampaging hippopotamus. His wolf gave a nod and headed for the big cat to offer a paw.

"I'm about to enter the field," Soren warned Ed. "Drew is on my tail."

Ed looked in the direction he could sense Soren approaching from as he ducked a blow from the Ice Alchemist, who'd apparently given up on being Al's opponent. There was a sudden increase in humidity and Ed spared a moment to look up to see thick, heavy clouds above them that certainly hadn't been there a few minutes ago. Considering the alchemist who'd stepped away from the group when they'd first attacked was the infamous Rainstorm Alchemist, Ed wasn't that surprised to see them. He wasn't happy about them since when they released the rain Osane had alchemised, it would give Thome all the water she needed to create her ice with. On the other hand, Ed would be able to use that water as well so it wasn't completely unwelcome.

"Just fuck off, Thome. You couldn't beat me when I was 14 so why the fuck do you think you can beat me now with another three years of missions and experience under my belt?" Ed snarled as he dodged the ice blade Thome was armed with.

"You only beat me because I went easy on you since you were a kid," Thome spat at him as she swiped at him again, grinning viciously when Ed was forced to take the hit so he wouldn't trip over Chester, who'd been beaten back by the leopard he was fighting.

Ed ignored the stinging pain from the cut on his arm as he put some space between him and Chester, forcing Thome to put her back to her allies in order to keep fighting him as she so obviously wanted to do. "Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night," Ed snarked, blocking the ice blade with his automail and smirking when it shattered. "Whoops," he said mockingly before he kicked her feet out from under her, sending her sprawling. He followed the escaped criminal down as she fell and secured her with the earthen bonds he'd alchemised the moment his hands touched the ground. "Now, stay there and don't cause any more trouble," he ordered as he snatched the bracelet off her wrist that held her pre-drawn array and destroyed it with Scar's array.

Ed ignored the snarled cusses as he turned his attention to the incoming owl. "Fly straight past me," he instructed Soren as he readied his next array, his eyes fixed on the angry vulture soaring after Soren.

The barn owl didn't question or refuse Ed's orders. He zoomed past Ed, dodging the incoming earthen blades from one of the enemy alchemists as he went. Ed clapped then crouched, slamming his hands to the ground. Stone hands broke through the dirt and grabbed the vulture just as he went to fly past Ed, fingers wrapping tightly around him as Ed manipulated them. Before Drew could do much more than screech in irritation, Ed used a second array to further manipulate the hands and slammed the captured Animal harshly enough into the ground that he saw Archer stumble. Knowing the vulture couldn't escape, Ed straightened up in time to meet Archer's furious gaze.

"Now, Ingram!" the ex-lieutenant colonel barked as he glared at Ed.

"Be ready, guys!" Ed warned as Ingram grinned toothily at him before he touched an array Ed knew was tattooed into the man's left forearm. Alchemic energy sparked along Ingram's arm as he activated it and produced a thick smoke from the elements in the very air around them that billowed out over the group and soon surrounded them. "Smoke alchemy. Fuck, I hate that array," Ed grumbled to himself as he raised a hand to cover his mouth with his black jacket in an attempt to filter the smoke out of the air he was breathing.

"Ed!" the warning from Ayala almost came too late as Ed barely managed to dodge the machete Archer tried to cut him with.

Coughing as he inhaled too much smoke, Ed tried to see through the thick smoke to see if he could spot Archer at all. He knew he was going to have the man's entire focus on him after what he did to Drew but he really wished Archer hadn't been smart enough to call on Ingram before he started avenging his Animal. "What's the matter, Elric?" came the goading question from Archer, causing Ed to spin in that direction and let loose an array in hopes of catching the slimy bastard. He growled when he heard Archer's chuckling laughter after his stone hand failed to close around anything. "Too bad you don't have an array to help you see."

Ed felt a stinging pain on his left cheek as he failed to move quickly enough to completely dodge the small throwing knife Archer launched at him. He had no clue how the non-alchemist was managing to move unhindered by the smoke and right now, he was really pissed about it. "Ed, the smoke is only around you and Archer. Try and get out of it," Ayala told him.

Deciding that listening to his Animal was the best thing he could do right now, Ed went to do just that but found himself stopped when Archer appeared in front of him, swinging the machete. Ed grunted from the force of the blow he'd stopped but let out a surprised gasp that was echoed by Archer when a strong, purposeful wind rushed past them, causing the smoke cover to dissipate and let Ed have full visibility once more. He would have to remember to thank Izumi and Koda for their training because he was able to recover from his shock quicker than Archer was, allowing him to land a solid blow with his left fist to the man's temple, knocking him to the ground and dazing him.

Ed looked over in the direction the wind had come from and saw Shiro standing with Black by his side, hands stretched out in front of him and pointing in Ed's direction. "Good job, Shiro!" Lance praised the older man just as the first of the raindrops started falling from the rainstorm Osane had alchemised into existence. "Alright!" the Blue Paladin cheered as the rain started falling harder, turning from a steady rain to a downpour in a matter of seconds.

Even though he had no clue how he'd done so, Ed knew Shiro had been behind the sudden wind that had destroyed the smoke screen belonging to Ingram. Nodding to the man, Ed moved to finish dealing with Archer, only to be stopped by the last non-alchemist standing. Forced to moved backwards, sliding a little in the newly created mud, Ed managed to dodge the strike from Radulf. The man didn't look too happy about the fact his hit hadn't landed but, to his credit, he didn't let that failure stop him from immediately trying again. Ed was quick to push back against the man so he didn't have the full advantage but it was soon apparent to the blonde that he did have a disadvantage Radulf didn't. Ed had to keep an eye on his surroundings to make sure his allies didn't need to his help and weren't in his way whereas it seemed as though Radulf didn't care about the two alchemists still standing or Archer, who was recovering from the blow Ed hit him with.

"When you've got a moment," Ed said through his bond with Ayala, who was still helping Nala beat down the hippopotamus.

"Den's nearly finished with the serval. He's just waiting for Al to have a moment free to alchemise the cat," Ayala told him.

"No rush," Ed said casually as he flipped backwards to avoid the kick aimed at his sternum.

The moment there was space between Ed and Radulf, a stream of fire flickered between them, causing Radulf to jump instinctively backwards to avoid it. Ed didn't move, mainly thanks to having fought alongside Mustang enough times to be used to random bursts of flames appearing near him. However, when he looked over in the direction the flames were coming from, it wasn't Mustang he saw standing there. Instead, he saw Keith standing with Red by his side, flames coming from his palms. He felt a thrum of shock run through him but forced it away when Keith's flames died down. Using the opportunity the Red Paladin had given him, Ed moved forward and restarted the fight with Radulf, only this time he planned on giving the non-alchemist zero chances to get the fight to turn in his favour.

Archer suddenly came out of seemingly nowhere from Ed's right, turning the fight into a two-on-one brawl that had Ed putting a bit more effort into it than he'd expected to. Much to his relief, however, Ayala was soon rushing Radulf, pulling the man down by his jacket and burying her teeth into his hamstrings when he was off-balance. The man roared in pain as he crashed to his knees as Ayala pulled herself away and went for his dominant wrist, sinking her teeth into it viciously. Radulf's shouts of pain rang through the clearing and caused him to swing wildly at Ayala, who was able to get out of the way easily.

Ed sent Archer stumbling away from him with a solid hit to his jaw and used that time to alchemise binds on Radulf, holding him into place. He grunted when Ayala shoved him to the side to help him avoid Archer's retaliatory strike but he appreciated the help and made sure to thank his wolf for it. "What would you do without me?" Ayala teased as they joined up against Archer in a repeat of their last fight against the man.

"Who knows?" Ed said back as he ducked a punch, giving Ayala the chance to use him as a springboard to leap at Archer, who went stumbling backwards as he tried to push her off of him. Clapping, Ed ordered Ayala to, "go left!" before he launched at Archer with the water whips he'd produced from the rain around them.

A shout from Al had Ed distracted for a moment but he was quick to find his brother and see that the cause for the shout was because the leopard had bitten down harshly on Chester's front right leg. Ed wrapped a water whip around Archer's throat just as Al abandoned his fight against the Rainstorm Alchemist to trap the Animal who'd injured his leopard. Archer inhaled and started coughing as water from the whip entered his lungs but Ed didn't let up, using his water whip to drag Archer forward into his raised automail fist. The man yelped when his nose gave way under Ed's fist but didn't get the chance to try and retaliate when Ed let go of him because Ayala hit his back, shoving him into the mud. A crackle of blue energy soon had him bound in stone to prevent him from escaping.

"Go back to Nala," Ed instructed Ayala as he turned and squared off against Osane or the Quicksand Alchemist. "Is he okay?" Ed asked Al, raising his voice to be heard over the rain and the sound of the fighting still happening.

"He's fine," Al assured him, wrapping up the healing he was performing on his Animal.

Knowing Al wasn't lying – mainly because Chester had assured him through their bond –, Ed glanced over at Den and saw him with the serval pinned to the ground. "Get ready to jump back, Den," Ed ordered as he brought his hands together.

Before he could activate his array or have Den move, both remaining human opponents decided to take the chance that Ed would be too distracted to try and attack him. However, before they could reach him or either Elric could react more than shifting into fighting stances or readying an array, Osane ran into an earthen wall that appeared out of nowhere and with no alchemic energy to precede it while the Quicksand Alchemist found himself wrenched backwards by a vine that seemed to have come alive. Seeing as the two enemies were preoccupied with attacking vines and earthen walls appearing out of nowhere, Ed turned back to what he'd originally been doing.

"Move," the blonde ordered the border collie, who obeyed immediately, allowing Ed to capture the serval without fearing Den would get caught in the middle. "How are you two going with that hippo?" Ed asked as he clapped once more and used the earthen mud wall to capture Osane before the brunette could recover from the hit.

"A hand or two would be appreciated," Nala panted.

"You got it," Ed said. He glanced over at the last remaining enemy but saw he was paying far more attention to the vines that were grabbing at him than he was with Ed.

Jogging over to where Ayala, Nala, Den, and Chester were fighting against the last remaining Animal, Ed joined the Animals at the same time Al did. He saw his brother's eyes rake up and down his form as soon as Ed came to a stop but Ed didn't comment on it since he did the exact same thing. "I guess we're gonna have to raid Granny's supplies when we get back," Al said as he took in the injuries Ed had suffered.

"And sit through a lecture about getting in a fight when we're supposed to be on holiday again," Ed added on, causing Al to groan. "Right, enough about that," Ed said, nodding to the hippo who was being held back by the four Animals. "Let's get this wrapped up."

"We'd be grateful if you got to the "wrapping up" part instead of sitting there and talking about it," Ayala groused at the both of them.

"Yes, ma'am," Ed snarked back before he nodded at Al. "You go left, I'll go right. Just trap it," he ordered.

Al gave a nod and the pair split up, moving to stand on the sides of the hippo, who immediately tried backing up to keep everyone in its sights but was soon stopped by the tree the Animals had had it cornered against. Bellowing angrily, the hippo turned to attack the closest enemy – Al – but was stopped by Chester's claws raking down its face. Infuriated, the angered Animal turned on Chester and charged the leopard, who was rapidly backing up. Without exchanging words or any other signal, both Ed and Al clapped at the exact same moment and placed their hands on the muddy ground. Alchemic energy sparked around the hippo, bringing it to a stand still out of shock before trapping it in a thick stone enclosure it had no hope of breaking out of.

Straightening, Ed went to share a victorious smirk with Al when a warning shout of his name from Pidge had him spinning on his heel in time to see the Quicksand Alchemist running straight for him. Before the criminal could reach him though, he was sent sprawling by a combined tackle from both Nala and Den, the two having been closest to the alchemist at the time. He hit the ground with a thud loud enough that even Ed winced and wisely decided to stay there when he looked up and found both Ayala and Nala right in his face, teeth bared in vicious snarls while Den and Chester lingered in the background, growling their own threats.

"You want the honour of recapturing Fulk?" Ed asked his brother as he watched the man in question try and figure out a way out of the predicament he was in.

"Nah, he's all yours," Al said as he moved to stand next to Ed.

"Thanks," Ed deadpanned before he crouched and alchemised another set of stone bindings over Fulk's wrists and ankles, ensuring he'd stay bound to the ground. "Good job, everyone," Ed praised, relief flooding through him now that the final enemy was captured. "How's it looking up there?" he asked, eyes moving skywards to where Soren was circling high above them.

"I can't see or sense anyone with malicious intents approaching us," the owl reported as Voltron made their way towards the brothers and Animals. "Riza and Mustang are close though. Maybe another fifteen minutes away. I've kept Riza apprised of everything that's been happening so she's aware the fight is over," he informed Ed.

"Thanks for that," Ed said, extending his automail arm so Soren could perch on it, which the owl did so gratefully. "And thanks for keeping an eye on everything for us," he added, stroking a finger down the owl's back in the way he liked.

"Lance!" "Brother!" "Ed!" The shouts and gasps came from numerous voices and had Ed spinning in the direction he sensed another alchemic surge form in. However, he found his sight blocked by Lance, who was standing in front of him with his hands raised while Blue stood at his side.

Stepping to the side, Ed's eyes widened as he spotted Thome crouched over an array she'd drawn into the mud, an infuriated look on her face as Lance seemed to do something that stopped her ice spikes from travelling any further. Al hadn't hesitated to move and rushed Thome, kneeing her in the side and sending her sprawling. Soren took flight as Ed crouched and used an array to destroy the one the Ice Alchemist had drawn on the ground so she couldn't use it again. Chester and Den were at Al's side, pinning Thome to the ground as Al secured her once more, ignoring her cussed threats.

"For fuck's sake," Ed swore at himself as he realised what had happened to allow Thome to escape. He'd only used the earth to secure her since it hadn't been raining like when the others had been captured. The rain had soaked through the earthen bonds enough that they became soft enough for her to break through and she'd done so silently enough that they hadn't noticed until after she'd drawn out her array in the mud and attacked. "Thanks for the help," Ed said to Lance as he straightened from his crouch. "Though I really want to know how the hell you managed to stop her attack. For that matter," Ed said, his eyes flicking between the members of the whole group, "I want to know how the hell any of you lot managed to help us out," he told them as Soren came back to land on his automail arm.

Shiro scratched the back of his neck in what Ed recognised as a nervous habit. "Well, it's part of our bond with our Lions," he told Ed. "Something we only discovered a little while ago ourselves, to be honest. Our Ed knows about it so I guess it didn't cross our minds to tell you about it when you told us to stay out of the fight," he said.

"Okay," Ed said. It took him a few moments of silence amongst the group for him to realise Shiro hadn't planned on saying anything more. "Am I supposed to start guessing?" he asked sarcastically.

His words seemed to jolt the whole group. "Oh, right," Hunk said, giving Ed a small but nervous smile. "So our bond lets us talk with our Lion telepathically no matter what form they're in, as well as find each other by locking onto the other with our bond, and while they're in their flesh form, we can use their elemental power. That's what we were using during the tail-end of that fight," he explained, apparently deciding to explain everything they could do with the bond. "So since Yellow's elemental ability is earth, I can manipulate dirt but only while she's like this," he clarified, scratching Yellow behind her ears. "I was able to fix some quicksand pits that alchemist set as traps while you were all distracted and I erected the wall when those last two tried to attack," he said.

"I didn't even notice the traps," Ed admitted, glancing down at Ayala and over at Al, both of whom seemed as shocked as he was at the news. "Thanks for that," he said, dipping his head slightly at the Yellow Paladin. Though he knew Ayala likely would've sensed and warned him if he nearly fell in a trap, he was glad she didn't have to risk herself to do so. "What are the other lions' elemental affiliations?" he asked curiously, gaze flicking to each lion in question.

"Blue's is ice and water, though it's predominately ice," Lance answered first. "It's why I could stop the last attack. I can create, manipulate, and – to a certain degree – control ice. I basically fought her for control over her attack," he explained.

"Well we certainly appreciate you doing what you could to make sure Brother and possibly Soren weren't impaled," Al said honestly.

"I would've gotten them both out of the way before that happened," Ayala sniffed at Al, glaring at him with displeasure.

"We know you would've. Al didn't mean to imply he didn't think you would've pulled me out of the way or whatever," Ed soothed his wolf before he turned to the next Paladin, which happened to be Keith, with a questioning look. He pretended not to notice the small, whispered apology Al gave Ayala.

"Fire," was the simple response. Ed had the feeling that this was just how Keith was with people he didn't know so he wasn't taking offense to the lack of conversation from him.

"It was weird to see someone else other than Roy using fire to attack someone," Nala commented, eyeing Keith a little warily. "I'm not sure I like knowing there's someone else out there who can do that, even if they aren't using alchemy to do so," she admitted.

"I'm on the same wavelength," Ed divulged to Nala through their bond as he nodded at Keith and said, "thanks for the assist with Radulf." Keith gave a simple nod in response and Shiro seemed to take that as his cue to continue the conversation.

"Black's is air," Shiro said, smiling at his lion.

"I thought you had something to do with getting rid of the smoke," Ed said with a nod. "I hate that array. It's one of the most inconvenient arrays in existence and makes me want to find the idiot who invented it and punch them," he muttered.

"What Brother means to say," Al said, rolling his eyes at Ed, "is "thank you for helping me out so Archer couldn't use the smoke to his advantage"," he said, bowing slightly to Shiro, who looked amused and a little unsure of how to react to Al's words.

"Yeah, what he said," Ed agreed, pointing at Al with his thumb.

"No need to thank me," Shiro said, cheeks a little pink.

Pidge seemed to decide it was her turn to share with the group. Ed almost snorted with how relieved Shiro looked about it. "Green's is plants so what I can do is manipulate the plant-life around me," Pidge told the brothers.

"Oh, kind of like botany alchemy," Ed said, looking impressed. "I hate that alchemy. I can never quite get the results I should. Al's great at it though," he said, shooting a withering look over his shoulder at his brother who simply rolled his eyes once more. "How did Fulk manage to get away from you though?" Ed asked, frowning a little. "It looked like you had that fight in hand when I left to help the others," he said.

Pidge had an annoyed scowl on her face, though it seemed to be aimed at herself rather than Ed, which the blonde found himself grateful for for reasons he didn't fully understand. "The one downside to what I can do is that I can only do it if I have direct line of sight on the plantlife I'm using," she told him. "Fulk blocked my sight at the most inconvenient time and I lost my hold on the vines. He used that opportunity to escape before I could use the grass or something else to try and capture him," she explained.

"That sounds annoying," Ed said sympathetically. Pidge gave him a look that said she both appreciated the sentiment but also believed he didn't have a clue. "Well, I really appreciate you guys helping us out with this fight," Ed said honestly. "I don't think I've ever been this happy about someone not listening to me before," he chuckled.

"We told you: Voltron doesn't sit on the sidelines if we know we can help," Shiro said, giving him a warm smile while the others nodded in agreement with his words.

"Are you all okay?" Allura asked, sounding like she'd been holding in that question since the group had approached them.

"We'll live," Ed said after checking with the four Animals he couldn't sense sympathy pain from anymore. A hiss from the trapped leopard got their attention as the big cat glared up at them. "No one asked your opinion so keep it to yourself," Ed scolded it before he looked over at Al. "We should go do the right thing and take the pre-drawn arrays the alchemists other than Thome should have from them so they can't try anything when they're arrested again," he said.

"Yeah," Al agreed, not sounding happy about the fact that Ed dismissed his injuries as he usually did. "I'll take Fulk and Osane if you want to check Ingram?" Al suggested.

Ed shrugged. "Why not?" he said before he turned on his heel and headed for the man that Ayala had helped him take down. He didn't comment on the fact that he had not only Nala and Ayala on his six but he also had Shiro, Keith, their two Lions, and Allura following behind him.

"You little -!" Ingram started snarling when he noticed Ed approaching but the blonde cut him off with an unimpressed look.

"Just shut the fuck up, Ingram," Ed sighed at him as he shifted Soren to his automail shoulder so he could start checking around Ingram's neck and on his wrists for his array. "No one cares about what you have to say," he told him before making a victorious noise when he found the small sheet of metal that held the meticulously carved array Ingram had etched into it. A flash of blue alchemic energy preceded by the familiar clap of Ed's alchemy saw the circle of metal destroyed.

The sound of two more claps told Ed that Al had found the others' arrays and taken care of them as well. After making sure Ingram wasn't likely to bleed out from the injuries Ayala had inflicted and that he definitely had no more pre-drawn arrays hidden somewhere, Ed left the man where he was bound in order to join up with his brother, the other two Animals, and the other members of Voltron who had followed Al. "All done?" Al asked and Ed gave a nod.

"Yeah, he only had the one on him. Yours?" the older Elric enquired back.

"Same," Al said. "Alright, I want a list of every injury everyone suffered and don't think I won't ask another Animal or – in your case, Brother – Ayala about whether you're telling the truth," he threatened. "Don't think I won't," he added, daring his brother to try.

Ed rolled his eyes at his little brother in an obvious manner. "Gash on my arm, cut on my cheek, bruised ribs, and bruises in other places," Ed reported. "Ayala has a cut down her ribs from the mountain goat and a lot of bruises and small nicks but that's it for her. Nala just copped bruises and grazes. Same for Den, though he got some slash marks from the serval's claws on his hindquarters. Soren escaped without injury," he continued, rattling off the injuries the Animals reported to him as he spoke. "You obviously would know what injuries Chester got so I don't need to tell you that," he said with a casual shrug.

Al looked at him suspiciously before he looked down at Ayala, making it obvious he was asking her whether Ed was telling the truth. The elder Elric gave his brother a dirty look that was soon aimed at his wolf then at Voltron when more than one of them sniggered. "Okay," Al finally said when Ayala confirmed that her human had spoken the truth. "Chester's fine. I healed him when that leopard got his paw and he didn't get hurt afterwards. I have a few nicks from the knives some of the criminals used but other than that, I think I'm mainly bruised, like the majority of us," Al told them.

Ed gave a silent sigh of relief. Though it had been over a year since Promised Day, Ed still held an almost irrational worry in his chest every time Al joined him in a fight despite knowing that Izumi wouldn't have allowed Al anywhere near a fight until she deemed him capable of holding his own in a fight again. "Good. It's gonna be bad enough sitting through Granny's lecture about me needing to use her stitching supplies," Ed said, grimacing at the thought of impending rant from the old woman.

"If you want," Lance said, sounding a little nervous and looking more so when Ed and Al's attention turned to him, "I have some medical supplies from our ship and I can patch you up so you don't have to risk a lecture from Pinako," he offered.

Ed would admit to being a little tempted by the offer and more so by the chance to avoid Pinako's passive aggressiveness but something still had him hesitate to accept the offer. His indecision must've been more obvious than he thought because Allura was quick to try and settle his doubts. "Our medicine is far more advanced than anything you have here – except for the healing alchemy in Creta and Xing, assuming they're the same as our Ed's versions of those countries – and Lance is an extremely capable medic, despite having no formal training," she told Ed, giving Lance a proud smile that had the brunette flushing a little.

"Up to you but I don't have any bad feelings when I consider you accepting the help so you should be safe," Ayala told Ed, looking up at him.

Ed contemplated his choices for all of five seconds before he nodded at Lance. If Ayala said he could trust the brunette to patch him up and it meant avoiding Pinako's tiresome lectures, Ed would accept the medical aid. "Alright," Ed said with a nod that seemed to surprise Lance, if the look on his face was anything to go by. "Let's see what you've got," he said.

"Okay," Lance agreed, exchanging an almost shellshocked look with Blue before he nodded to where the group had been sitting before the fight and the bags some of Voltron had been carrying with them. "My first aid kit is in my bag. We can patch you up over there, if you want?" the brunette suggested.

Ed shrugged a shoulder, ignoring the bruises and stiff muscles that protested the movement. "Makes no difference to me," he said, gesturing for Lance to take the lead. "How far away are your humans and Hughes?" he asked Soren and Nala as they followed the Blue Paladin back to his gear.

"They're close," Nala assured him.

"Do you want me find and escort them here?" Soren asked, fluffing himself up as he made no move to leave his perch on Ed's automail arm.

"Nah, if Miss Riza is with them than they'll get here soon enough. I'd be more worried if it was just Mustang and Hughes by themselves," Ed said, smirking at his own jab at the two older men despite the fact neither of them was there to witness it.

"I hope you know that I'm gonna tell Maes what you said," Leo told Ed, amusement in his tone.

"I have zero issues with that," Ed grinned as he watched Lance dig around in his backpack for the gear he needed. "So how are you the team medic without any formal training?" Ed asked Lance. "Both Mustang and Havoc had to go through at least basic medical training to be allowed to patch people up. Same goes for the rest of the team, though their medical training is only for basic injuries," Ed said.

"Well, I didn't get the chance to do any formal medical study back home before we got scooped up by Blue and brought to the Castle-Ship but I've always had a knack for patching my family up and loved reading my mum's medical books – she was a nurse – so when we settled into our new normal, I asked Coran to show me the medical wing and explain what everything did," Lance explained, pausing in his search, before any other Voltron member could snap at Ed for questioning Lance like they'd wanted to do. "Like I said, I have a knack for patching people up so I became the unofficial team medic. I'm usually the team medic on the field but Coran is the main man on the Ship," Lance said, a small grin on his face like he'd just told a joke that Ed didn't get.

"Cool," Ed said in response. "You've got more training that Al or I technically do," he added with a casual shrug.

"You really are a little too nonchalant about this sort of thing, do you know that?" Ayala asked curiously.

"So you say every time I do something like this," Ed retorted.

"As long as you know," Ayala shrugged with a grin.

Ed shook his head in amusement at her as Lance made a victorious sound and produced a small pack that Ed assumed was the first aid kit. "Ready?" Lance asked and Ed gave a nod. "I can't really do much for your bruises since I don't have enough anti-bruise spray but I can at least take care of the cuts on your arm and cheek," Lance told him.

"I only really need the one on my arm looked after," Ed said.

"Wow," Lance said, looking shocked once more. "You admitted that far more easily than our Ed would've," he explained before anyone could ask.

Al looked contemplative. "If your Ed doesn't have Ayala or Nala or any of the other Animals, it's probably that he's used to being able to get away with hiding his injuries. Ayala's always been quick to out Brother if he was more injured than he was letting on and she decided he needed medical treatment whether he wanted it or not," Alphonse said. "Nala, Chester, and the others bonded to him usually know when he's been injured as well. They may not know how seriously or what kind of injuries he has but they can usually tell by what they sense through their bonds with him. They've had a lot of practise at doing that," he said, shooting Ed a dirty look that his brother looked thoroughly unphased by.

"If I know how to patch an injury up myself, I'll do it rather than go through the rigmarole of finding someone else to patch me up," Ed said in his defence.

"Not the point, Brother," Al snarked.

"As much as I hate to break up some good old brotherly banter," Lance said, holding up the first aid kit, "I'm gonna have to so I can take a look at that arm. Mind removing your jacket?" he asked, nodding to the aforementioned jacket.

"Yeah, that would probably help you out a bit, wouldn't it?" Ed commented as he shrugged his left arm out of his black jacket, leaving it on his right arm so Soren didn't have to move. He winced a little as the jacket scraped lightly over the injury and he made a mental note to patch up the slice in the sleeve and get rid of the blood before they got back to Pinako's so Elysia wouldn't see it.

"You did a good job on it," was Lance's only comment when he saw the gash in Ed's arm.

Al was already hovering and Ed was forced to crouch before Lance could start cleaning out the injury so the Animals with them could see the extent of the injury. "Well, you've had worse," Ayala commented dryly.

"Yeah, nothing has really topped that injury in Baschool, hey?" Ed joked, earning several flat glares from the Animals and Al but several surprised ones from Voltron. "What?" he asked, a little defensively but he felt it was justified.

"They know about what happened in Baschool?" Hunk asked, gesturing vaguely at Ed's family.

"Yeah?" the blonde answered, tone more questioning than not. "Why wouldn't they?" he asked confused. "I mean, I am bonded with Ayala, who sure as shit would've told everyone whether I wanted her to or not, but I'm also bonded with everyone here, as well as numerous other Animals. They all sensed something when Baschool happened so they all knew something was up anyways," Ed told them.

"It's just," Lance said before trailing off, seemingly unsure of where to go from there.

"It took our Ed over a year and being accidentally outed by Heinkel and Darius before he came clean about Baschool," Shiro told them, shocking both Elrics and all of the Animals.

"How the hell did he survive admitting to Baschool over a year after it had happened?" Al asked in amazement. "I would've killed Brother myself for trying to keep that a secret," he admitted. Ed didn't look surprised by the revelation.

"I think our Alphonse came closer to doing so than he ever before in his life when he found out," Pidge told them. Ed wasn't sure whether he was imaging the slight awe in her voice or not.

"I guess if he didn't have anyone mentally bonded with him at the time, he could've kept it to himself for as long as possible so long as no one spilt the beans," Ed said before shrugging. "Anyways, what are your plans with this cut?" he asked, forcing the subject change back onto the original topic. It was still weird talking about his alternate self and how their lives differed in the smallest of ways.

Lance visibly shook himself before he gently grasped Ed's arm to have a better look at it. "Well, I need to clean it, first and foremost," Lance told him. "After that, we'll see how bad it is," he finished saying.

"Nice and simple," Ed said approvingly, earning several snorts and soft groans.

Lance flashed a quick smile at him before he started digging into his first aid kit. "It won't take long to clean and you shouldn't feel anything," Lance told him. "Coran managed to dig up some antiseptic that also has some general anaesthetic in it," he explained. "The anaesthetic is pretty quick acting," he added.

"Sounds good to me," Ed said. Ayala still hadn't raised any objections so Ed figured his chances at being hurt worse because of this were still pretty slim.

With permission given, Lance set to work just as the noise of several people could be heard approaching them. Since none of the Animals reacted to the noise and Ed could sense Leo a lot clearer now, Ed would bet his entire bank account on who was there. When no member of Voltron reacted to the appearance of Mustang, Hawkeye, Hughes, and Leo, he figured their Lions had alerted them to their presence. Ed smirked when he saw Mustang and Hughes stop dead in their tracks when they stepped into the field and saw the captured criminals almost immediately. Hawkeye stopped as well but Ed had a feeling it was more out of habit because her commanding officer had rather than out of shock.

"Sup," Pidge greeted, raising a hand in a half-hearted wave and effectively getting the attention of the four new arrivals.

"Please tell me you aren't that badly hurt," Hughes said upon spotting Ed in the process of being patched up by Lance.

Ed gave him a quick smile. "I'm fine," he said. "Just a couple of cuts and some bruises," he said.

Hughes gave him a flat look. "Ayala already told Leo what injuries you got," Hughes informed him.

Ed scowled. "Then why'd you ask?" Ed grumbled at him as the man joined them, Hawkeye and Mustang trailing behind him.

Hughes merely responded by ruffling Ed's hair, earning a growl and glare from the blonde. "Well, I see you've managed to bring them all in," Mustang said, cutting Hughes off. "Somehow, I'm not surprised that you and your brother were attacked the moment you were away from us," he said with a faux long-suffering sigh.

"Considering you haven't seen action since Promised Day, we probably would've ended up in worse shape with you there," Ed snarked at him.

Soren chose that moment to rejoin his human, allowing Ed to drop his automail arm next to his side while Mustang scowled at him then Hughes when his best friend started chuckling. Glaring at the pair, Mustang proceeded to ignore the amused looks he was getting from Voltron, Alphonse, and the Animals. "Since you're obviously not that badly injured, you can take us through your report while we wait for the soldiers stationed at Resembool to arrive," Mustang ordered.

Ed rolled his eyes at his boss, making it obvious he knew that Mustang hadn't retorted because he had none. "Even though I know your Animal told you what was happening as it happened, fine, I'll take you through the fight," Ed said with a sigh.

"You were going to have to give him a report anyways, Brother, and you know it," Al pointed out.

"Not the point," Ed said, glaring at his little brother. "Don't look so amused, bastard. You're the one who couldn't come up with a good counter argument before," Ed snarked at Mustang, whose grin was immediately replaced with another scowl.

"Report," Mustang snapped irritably. He quelled a little under Hawkeye's unimpressed look but still gave Ed an expectant look that had the blonde rolling his eyes once more.

"Fine, fine," Ed said as Lance finished cleaning up his injury. He marvelled at the fact that he hadn't felt the cloth the brunette had been using to administer the antiseptic and anaesthetic after the first couple of touches. "So we get to the field and Al and all the Animals except Den and Soren head out like they were going to spar. Soren took to the sky so he could keep an eye out while…"

A/N - Here's the second part for you all! This one was the chapter that I wasn't happy with and decided to rewrite, stalling the date this mini story got published so I really hope you like it! Once again, thank you to Ao3 user Nooodlen for the prompt! I'll see you next week with the final chapter!