Dimensions
By: Kurama-Sweethart (Moe)
Warning(s): Spoiler for the SERIES AND MANGA. It isn't really based on either one alone, per say- but my own crazy rendition of the two. For example, the timeline is manga formatted- Cornello happened before Nina, and Ed is 15. However, the events that take place are in the anime format, when it comes to dialogue and happenings. Also, Mustang is Colonel as opposed to Major, as shown in the series. Obviously, in the beginning it is set before the death of Maes Hughes. Blah blah, I'm sure you get the idea.
Pairing(s): Blunt Roy x Ed in later chapters. Yaoi, Shonen-ai and probably some sex/smut along the way.
Author's Note: Egad! I promised Roy x Ed, but I last-minute decided to add in a little more love interest to mix things up. Thanks to all who reviewed, feedback is always appreciated. Plus- I added some Ed-angst in for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

"Hey, Big Brother!" Nina laughed, clinging to his neck. He could feel the warmth in the wool she wore, and he held her to his chest, laughing. "I gotcha!"

"Aw, darn! You're just too fast for me!" He yelled, falling back into the snow, Alexander following in the pile. Al stood nearby, his loud, echoing laugh resonating around the courtyard.

"Okay, Big Brother! It's your turn now!" And in a flash, she had jumped up and begun to run away, face bright and playful. "Betcha can't catch me!"

Ed snickered and stood up, dusting snow from his clothes. He began his pursuit, mere inches from her braids whipping in the wind. He dove, purposefully missing her and getting a face full of snow.

"Heeheehee!" Nina laughed, collapsing in a heap, Alexander, always loyal, lying on his back beside her. She giggled and rubbed the soft fur on his stomach.

Ed lay on his back on the other side of her, arms folded behind his head. "You done, Nina? I'm starting to get cold!" He shivered to illustrate just how cold he was. The young girl nodded and stood up, her large coat making her look hysterically bulky for her small size. She hobbled to the door, taking fistfuls of her dog's fur for balance.

She disappeared into the doorway, where it was unusually dark. "Tucker must have turned off the lights." Al reassured, sensing his brother's discomfort.

The two stepped through the frame, and suddenly it got colder. This time, he shivered for real. There was no sound, no pitter of Nina's footsteps, no thump of Alexander's paws.

"Nina?" he called, wandering. He made his way to the staircase. "Al? Mr. Tucker?" Edward called. No one could be found.

"Big…Broth….er…" he heard a soft voice call. Eyes wide and anxious, he darted into a hallway he didn't remember being there before.

"Nina? Nina!"

"Big…Broth-Brot-B-" the voice dwindled to a whisper. "-rother…"

"I'm coming, Nina!" He broke out into a sprint. The corridor seemed to go on forever. Finally, he could see something looming in the dark before him. "Nina!"

It was then that he realized that there was blood pooling on the floor, and it was staining the bottoms of his boots and pants. The crimson surrounded him, and as he trudged forward, arms outstretched to pick up the little girl, he realized that he wasn't talking to anything human.

"Big brother." The chimera said quietly. "Save me… it hurts. It hurts!" The voice got high and frantic. "Help me, stop it, big brother, stop it! It hurts, it hurts!"

Ed took the chimera's face in his hands. "What is it, Nina! What hurts?"

"It hurts…" she muttered, and in a large flash of light, her body erupted. Blood and entrails coated his skin, already slick with sweat. He clung to her head, not allowing it to leave him. He needed her. She was the only thing that kept him innocent, kept him sane…

He opened his eyes from their squinted state, and looked down. Her decapitated head lay limp in his arms. She was dead. It was his fault. His fault. If he had just helped her, made the pain stop. It was all his fault.

All your fault….

Ed shot up in bed, the sheet draped around his waist. Immediately, his hand flew to his head to subconsciously try to stop the throbbing. That nightmare, again… It seemed like there were so many now that he lost count. Mom, Al's body, Nina… all his fault.

He leaned over, hugging his legs to his chest.

"It's my fault…" he muttered into the darkness.

The clock struck a chord and it sounded loudly, vibrating off the many shelves of books. Ed's head shot up from where it had been shoved deeply into a dusty volume. He rubbed his head and sighed. "Damn, I didn't realize it was so late. One AM already?" He yawned and stretched, standing from his seat at a table. Al was shuffling around nearby.

"Hey, I'm gonna go try and get some shut-eye. You okay in here by yourself?" He said, low but loud enough for his armored brother to hear.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. 'Night, Brother."

The Fullmetal Alchemist shuffled to his room in HQ, some books and notes in tow. He planned to look them over before he slept, a habit that he had picked up somewhere. Reading before bed always made things easier to remember, something about the subconscious mind picking up on things during the early stages of pre-slumber.

Or at least that's what he read in one of those alchemy books. Since he had started researching Dimensional Alchemy, he'd found out a lot of interesting things that had to do with the mind. Come to think of it, he'd read about lots of weird things during his long nights awake. Weird stuff, about spirits and auras and witchcraft. Apparently the kitchen that Alchemy started in was the kitchen of some sort of fortune-teller. Probably some old fraud of a hag trying to earn a little pocket money reading palms on the street.

"What am I thinking?" He muttered. Edward Elric didn't have time for spiritual shit. He was a man of science, things that were tangible and provable. Things like auras and spirits weren't proven- hence not worth his time. He was still getting over the logic of this time continuum. Not only did these 'rips' or 'continuums' defy every law of physics, but the power to control them with alchemy? It was utterly absurd.

And yet… it was intriguing, and it was his first and only lead. He was obligated to get his brother's body back. He had to. It was his fault he had lost it in the first place, and the Fullmetal Alchemist wasn't going to go back on his promise. To Al or Nina.

"Hey, Ed."

In the midst of changing into his bedclothes, he whipped around, shirt only half pulled up over his torso. "Hughes?"

The Lieutenant Colonel sauntered in and seated himself comfortably on the couch. "What's up? How's the research going?"

The Fullmetal groaned. "Like shit. Found a ton of crap about spirits and parallel planes of existence, but nothing I can work with."

"'Sucks." Hughes muttered. "Listen, there's a rumor going around…Have you ever heard of Xenotime?"

The blonde shook his head. "Yeah, somewhere." He replied groggily in mid-yawn. "Something about… aw, shit, I can't remember."

Hughes frowned. "Well, anyway, there's talk about something called 'Red Water' down there."

That got the alchemist's attention. His eyes widened. "Stone, you say?"

"Yup." The Lieutenant leaned forward. "And I thought… maybe since you've started this little research group, that this town'd be able to help you out. Y'know, getcha some information."

Ed sighed. "I don't know, we're getting along okay in the library-"

Hughes sighed. "Well, do what you want. Just let me leave you with a warning." His features became very tense, his appearance aging almost ten years. "Steer clear of the Colonel for a while."

The Fullmetal had begun to slip into a large tee shirt, but stopped in mid-movement. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The Lieutenant massaged his temples, running a hand down his own jaw line, feeling the scruff of facial hair yet to be shaved. "He's got eyes for you, Edward."

It took all the alchemist's strength to not burst out laughing. "Colonel? Mustang? For…me?" he pointed to himself. "I'll believe it when all the pigs suddenly jump up and fly away to the moon."

Hughes frowned. "I'm serious. I'd just be careful, okay?"

The blonde gave him a lopsided grin. "Aw, come on, Hughes. When am I ever reckless?" he shrugged.

"I won't answer that." Hughes chuckled, standing. "Well, anyway, if… something does happen," he winked, causing Ed to get an eerie chill down his spine. "I promise not to tell."

"Hey!" The Fullmetal yipped, jumping up and brandishing his auto-mail fist wildly in the air. "What the hell does that mean-?"

"'Night, Edward!" The Lieutenant called, making a quick getaway down the hall, leaving Ed fuming, yet with some deeper matters to sleep on.

"Two seats for Xenotime, please." The Fullmetal Alchemist requested, pushing some bills and a few coins through the ticket window.

The woman at the other side nodded. "Yes sir, Mr. Elric." Her eyes flashed darkly as she gently slid her hand through the small window, tickets settled between her fingers. "Have a safe trip."

The blonde saluted. "We'll try to." And he walked away, his younger brother following.

Lust ran a hand through her hair. "So, the Fullmetal is off to Xenotime. Must have heard about those boys screwing around with Dimensional Alchemy." She stalked from the office and made her way behind the train station. "There are so many ways that this could work out," the homunculi muttered to herself. They were going to get the stone finished sooner than they thought.

Ed gazed out the window, eyes clouded over with boredom. "Come on, I didn't think it was this far away." He groaned, turning over and resting his head on his arms, lying full-length on the seat.

"The woman at the station said it was a two day trip." Al offered, sitting upright beside their suitcase. "Besides, it's a good chance for some rest. Since we've found out about Dimensional Alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone, we've done nothing but research."

The Fullmetal groaned. "Yeah, I guess so. It's just hard not to think about all the work we're gonna have to do when we get there. Supposedly there are two famous guys there that have done some research with Dimensional Alchemy- but it's hard to get some actual facts, because tampering with the dimensions is so forbidden."

"Which is why we should get our rest now!" Al argued, leaning over. Almost on cue, his brother yawned loudly.

"I guess you're right. I'm gonna sleep for a bit, okay?" Ed rolled over, his back to his brother.

"Yeah, okay." The younger alchemist replied. He looked out the window at the landscape whizzing by in a reel of color. His nerves were starting to kick in, anxiety about the stone and dimensions getting to him. But I can't get cold feet now, Al thought. We've come to far for that.

He dug through their bags, pulling out one of the books they had taken from the library, some information that they had gathered from journals and an assortment of random papers with information scribbled lazily across them. Dimensional Alchemy: Xenotime Research Labs, Russell Tringham. This information, though, was pulled from Hughes who seemed to have some inside sources. As forbidden as the Philosopher's Stone was, Dimensional Alchemy was practically unheard of. Research on it had to be kept very low profile. The only thing they could find in the libraries was that there was research going on around Xenotime. That was when they had turned to the military's more classified information.

When the train finally pulled into the outskirts of the city, finding out where this research lab was located was about as easy as finding a needle in a large pile of needles.

"Excuse me, sir." Ed asked a random passerby. "You wouldn't happen to know where the Xenotime Research Lab is located, would you?"

The man shook his head. "Sorry, Xenotime doesn't have any research labs, other than that one facility, but no one knows what they really do there."

The alchemist's brows furrowed. "Can you tell me where it is?"

The man smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, kid. No one really knows where it's at, because then they'd have all those military dogs on it and stealing all the research in a heartbeat."

Ed shifted so that his state watch was out of view. "Yeah. Thanks anyway."

"And your name sir?" A woman asked from somewhere in the midst of the crowd.

"Elric. Edward Elric."

The Fullmetal Alchemist's eyes enlarged to the size of dinner plates. He whipped around to see a rather tall blonde kid use his name to get a discount on some very expensive sushi.

"You bastard." The real Elric muttered, gripping him by the collar, landing a swift punch into the impersonators nose. He didn't even get a chance to pick out the sushi.

Chapter three and still nothing really substantial coming into the picture. This is definitely where you can see that the anime is taking over, plot-wise. I just decided to slip Russell and Fletcher into the picture last minute, as some sort of ghetto mini-plot to get some more information about Dimensional Alchemy out there. I was a little disappointed in this chapter. But hell, whatever.

This story took lots of late-nights, headaches and Pepsi 6-packs to write. If you enjoy this fic, I'd appreciate it greatly if you'd drop me a pretty review, preferably constructive. It'd just make my day!