July 23rd, 2012

"What is that?"

"Aren't you supposed to be trying to sleep?"

Ed scowled, his left hand half resting, half pressing on his right shoulder. "Yeah, yeah…" He turned his head, trying to fend off the pain by distracting himself with the little, glowing rectangle in Reid's hand. "But what is that?"

"It's a cellphone." Reid pushed himself up, illuminated both by the device in his hand and the somewhat dim lamp sitting on the table in between the two beds. "It's a smartphone, really. They're kind of new. And expensive."

Ed almost pushed himself up, not liking the angle he had to turn his head at in order to see the agent, but the pain kept him on his back. "It's a phone?"

"Yes." Reid got off his bed and knelt beside Ed's, holding the so-called phone where Ed could see it. "It does a lot more than a regular phone. If I go here…" he touched the front, and it responded to his finger, the image changing, "…I can make a phone call by pressing the numbers. If I go here…" he did it again, "…I can send messages by typing them out. If I go here…"

Ed started, completely awestruck as Reid showed him how the phone could take pictures and record voices and calculate numbers and everything. It could do everything.

"That's incredible. That's incredible!" Ed shook his head, eyes wide. "You may not have alchemy, but whatever science made that thing is awesome!"

Reid smiled. "We've come up with some pretty crazy things using our sciences, but I think you've got us beat. I mean, your automail is impressive enough. We're just now figuring out how to make prosthetics that advanced. Even more amazing, you can clap your hands and then completely change the structure of an object? That's unheard of!"

Laughing softly, Ed considered reaching out to touch the cellphone. "Well, most people have to use a matrix to do it, but… I guess it's still pretty amazing when you think about it."

"You mentioned that before." Reid withdrew, seating himself on his bed with a curious look. "Why do you do it differently?"

Ed stopped, silently cursing his lack of forethought. "I… I just…"

Reid tilted his head slightly. "Ed, you're safe with me."

"I…" Ed averted his eyes. If this world had no concept of alchemy, they wouldn't know anything about human transmutation. If they didn't know about it, it wouldn't be illegal. But wouldn't they still be disgusted? "I…"

Reid continued to look at him, open and unjudging, waiting to see if he would talk.

"There's… there's something called human transmutation." Ed swallowed. "It… it's thought that, um, that it can bring people back to life."

Reid's eyes widened. "You can resurrect someone?"

Letting out a bitter laugh, Ed put his gaze on the ceiling so he didn't have to meet Reid's eyes but wasn't looking away. "No. No, it's impossible. But… my brother and I…" He screwed his eyes shut, took a breath, and opened his eyes again. "We just wanted to see our mother's smile again."

"Hotch mentioned you don't have any parents." Reid looked at Ed, and there wasn't any pity in his eyes, but he almost looked like he was in pain. No disgust. No anger. Just… sad. "So, you tried to bring your mother back and… what happened?"

Ed gripped his automail shoulder a little tighter. "It failed. It… it rebounded, and it took my brother's entire body… and it took my leg." He swallowed again, trying to blink away the burning in his eyes. "I… I performed human transmutation again, right—right at that moment. I gave up my arm, but all I could get was my brother's soul. I bonded it to a suit of armor."

"Wait, how… how did it take your bodies?" Reid squinted, tilting his head to the side, and then he got an expression of revelation. "Equivalent Exchange." He started to nod in understanding. "You paid for a body with a body, and the soul aspect… well, I don't know how a limb is equivalent to a soul, but it's not like I can dispute the laws of a science I know nothing about."

Finally looking in Reid's direction, Ed tried to figure out what the agent was going to say next. He almost seems more interested in the alchemy than…

"It must have been awful. How old were you when you did this?"

Or maybe not. "Eleven."

"That's young." Reid smiled faintly. "I, uh, I was a child prodigy, too. I actually have three doctorates even though I'm only thirty."

Ed's eyes widened. "Wow."

Looking down at his lap, Reid tried to keep that smile on his face. "My, uh, my mom is alive, but… she has a condition. I don't know if it exists in your world. It's called schizophrenia. It… makes people delusional and distant, or makes them see things that aren't there, or makes them scared of things that don't exist, or all of those, or other things, or…" He lifted a hand, waving it off. "It's not the same, but I kind of know what it's like to want your mom back."

Silence settled over the room, and Ed watched Reid's face for a few more moments before he looked back at the ceiling. He just breathed for a moment, and without the smartphone or conversation to distract him, the pain in his stumps was getting harder to ignore.

"How's your pain level?" It was as if Reid could hear Ed's thoughts.

Ed flashed a smile. "It's better, thanks." Marginally, maybe, but he knew he had just taken another dose of that 'Advil' an hour or so ago. He couldn't take more, so there was no need to tell Reid the truth. "You're here with me… when you should be out there catching that killer."

"My team is taking care of it. If they need me, they'll call me in." Reid stood up, walking back to his bed and crawling under the covers. "Come on. We should get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll start figuring out how to get you home."

Swallowing, Ed continued to look at the ceiling, squeezing his shoulder joint slightly but finding it only increased the pain. "How… how long do you think it'll take? I mean, my brother and I have been looking for a way to get our bodies back for four years." He tried to imagine living in this alien world for the next several years; tried to imagine Al being left alone that long. "Am I… still gonna be here in four years? Or more?"

Reid didn't say anything at first, and then he let out a sigh. "I don't know, Ed." He paused. "But there's no point wondering about it when we might figure this thing out in a week or a month. Let's just take it one day at a time."

"Okay." Ed closed his eyes, trying to relax and push through the sharp ache in his limbs. He lay very still, and then a faint smile pulled on the corner of his mouth.

Well, Al… I think I made a friend.

July 23rd, 2012

"How do we know he's the last one?"

Hotch closed the back door to the police car, taking a moment to look at the utterly deadpan nineteen-year-old in handcuffs. "We profiled two killers. If Baar is the second killer, we can be pretty confident there isn't anyone else." He looked over at the lieutenant, who he had considered ordering to stay behind, and kept his expression neutral. "We'll stay for the initial interrogation, but if we can confirm this is our second killer, we'll leave the rest to you. If anyone else goes missing or the investigation starts to go sideways, give us a call."

Lieutenant Davenport nodded and put his hands on his hips. "We'll start right away." He glanced at Hotch. "With one of your agents present, of course."

"That would be best." Hotch stared him down for a moment, and then he broke away, approaching Rossi and JJ, who were standing on the nearby sidewalk in front of the unsub's house. "Based on what we saw in his bedroom, I think we can say he's Matthews' partner. I told Davenport we would stay for the initial interrogation, but… we have more pressing matters at hand."

JJ touched her forehead but didn't quite rub it. "Right, the…" She shook her head. "What are we doing about that? I mean, do we really believe he's… from another world?"

"What's the alternative?" Rossi snorted. "He's an alien with some kind of advanced technology he activates by clapping? Magic exists, and it just so happens that a person who is able to use it is also a person who has created an entire made-up world in his head?"

Hotch raised his eyebrows briefly, a silent admission of their lack of options. "We will pursue alternate explanations. We're going to take nothing at face value. However…" He paused, wetting his lips. "We follow the evidence. Reid has been texting me, and even though it isn't exactly an official investigation, he's been Googling the most advanced prosthetics on the market, and none of them look like Ed's. Ed also clapped his hands, and after some light came out of his hands, he was able to completely restructure a piece of paper, not simply into a ball or a couple of folds, but into a complex shape, by simply touching it." He took a breath, barely able to believe the words coming out of his mouth. "We need to set aside our perceptions of logic and science and start investigating other avenues."

"We can't tell anyone about this. I know we already lied to the cops, but nothing about this can be in any of our reports." Rossi jerked a thumb over his shoulder even though none of them had any idea where the hotel was in relation to where they were. "If the scientific community or the government finds out about this, they'll cart that kid off to some underground lab and he'll never be seen alive again."

Hotch was opening his mouth to respond when Prentiss and Morgan walked up to the group, Prentiss pressing a tissue to the lip their unsub had split with a well-aimed punch. She glanced around to make sure the coast was clear and then spoke in a low voice.

"I take it we're talking about our secret mission."

Morgan shook his head in disbelief. "This is…"

"We don't want to appear suspicious." Hotch cast his gaze around the group, relaying the importance of their behavior with his eyes. As if they didn't already know. "We'll discuss our options on the flight home."

"Oh, no." Prentiss' eyes widened slightly. "He's not going to go into shock if we take him on a flight, is he?"

Morgan ran a hand down the back of his neck. "If our world is as foreign to him as we think it is, he would have gone into shock by now."

"Enough." Hotch gestured toward their SUVs. "Let's close this case. We'll discuss things in the air."

Silent nods were passed around the circle, and the group broke apart, making their way to the dark vehicles parked along the street. Hotch watched his surroundings as he passed through them, ensuring both the police and his subordinates were behaving appropriately, and then he got in on the driver's side of one of the SUVs.

Could it really be another world? If it is, what could have happened that suddenly caused these two worlds to intersect? Did anyone else come across the gap? Did someone from our world go to the other one, and are they stuck the same way Edward is?

Hotch sighed.

July 24th, 2012

Ed's footsteps got gradually slower the closer they got to the massive… thing. They called it a 'plane.' It was huge, and it was metal, and it looked entirely too heavy to ever fly the way they said it could. He also didn't see how it could be filled with helium or heat, and there was no way for the metal, wing-looking things to flap.

I don't like this.

"Easy, Edward." Hotchner looked down from where he walked on Ed's left, some kind of black bag slung over his shoulder. "I know it's strange, but you're safe."

Ed glared, both suspicious and not liking the way Hotchner repeatedly tried to treat him like a child. "That's exactly what someone would say to get me to do what they want." He pointed at the plane, the movement causing faint pain, though it was much better than the day before. "I ain't getting on that thing until you guys get on it."

"That's fair." Hotchner faced forward, indicating the stairs. "We'll walk up there, but you can't be the last person to board, as this is still a very… delicate situation. If it makes you more comfortable, Dr. Reid can be the one to come up behind you."

Pursing his lips, Ed considered the team leader for a moment and then looked to his right, where Reid gave him an encouraging smile. Ed wasn't about to say he trusted any of the people in this new, incomprehensible world, but… he liked Reid. He didn't think Reid would do anything to hurt him.

"Okay." Ed reached over with his flesh hand and touched his automail shoulder—a habit he had gotten into over the past several days, even though it really was feeling better—and entirely too soon, he was standing at the base of the stairs. "So we just… go in it?"

Hotchner gave a single nod and started up, followed closely by Morgan, who gave Ed a thumbs up, and then Prentiss, JJ, and Rossi. Ed swallowed and looked over at Reid again, but he found a completely calm expression and a little nod toward the steps.

Okay. It's fine. It's probably fine. Just… Ed put his flesh hand on the railing and started up, feeling a twinge every time he lifted his left leg to the next step. It's definitely metal. But those big round things under the wings… if they give off some kind of force, could they propel this thing forward? He put one boot on the plane, and after casting a quick look around the inside to make sure the team really was there and hadn't snuck off somehow, he brought the rest of himself in.

"We'll have to sit while the plane is taking off," Prentiss explained, indicating the seats and table nearby. "You should take a window seat. You'll want to be able to see what's happening."

Ed took a breath and approached the row closest to the plane's door, sliding across the seat and settling by the window. "So…" He looked around, taking in the long couch on the other side of the plane's interior and the rectangle mounted into the wall that looked an awful lot like the screen to Reid's smartphone. "We're gonna be up in the air? Without anything beneath us?"

Reid slid onto the seat next to Ed and put his bag on the floor. "Yes. We'll try and walk you through it. It's… you kinda get pushed back in your seat by the speed at which you're moving, and then…" He held his hands up slightly, fingers twitching, but he couldn't find the words he was looking for.

"It's not bad," JJ assured, sitting down in the seat across from Ed. "It's just… unusual."

Ed pushed himself against the window, watching everyone's movements carefully. Hotchner sat in the seat next to JJ, putting him across from Reid, and Prentiss sat with Morgan and Rossi on the couch.

"We need to determine how we're going to figure out what happened." Hotchner looked at Reid. "I was hoping you might know a bit about the current scientific theories on alternate universes. It seems like the kind of thing that would interest you."

Reid nodded, but he seemed a little uncertain. "Well, there's dozens of theories, but that's really all they are. Possibilities. We don't have any kind of evidence." He pressed his lips together, looking downward with a thoughtful crease in his brow. "I guess it would be a good starting point, though. Unless—" he looked at Ed suddenly, "—do you think your alchemy could be the key to getting you home? I mean, it works on this side of the barrier between our worlds, and we know it obviously works on your side, so… maybe it's some kind of connecting force."

Ed lifted a hand to his chin. "Well, there's…" He hesitated, not knowing how much he wanted to share. He had already told Reid more about his past and the capabilities of alchemy than he planned, but did he want to relay that information to the whole group? "I told… I told Reid about human transmutation. It's…" swallowing, he put his eyes on the window to his right, "…illegal and dangerous and you shouldn't do it. But I did, and… when I did, I got the ability to transmute without a matrix." He paused, once again doubting his course of action. "I got that ability by passing through something called the Gate of Truth. I noticed… when I woke up in this world that… it felt a lot like the Gate. I was confused… and I knew I should have been panicked and scared, but I wasn't. It was like… I was in a fog. And I recognized the feeling."

No one responded, and Ed was honestly a little afraid of looking at them, so he kept staring out the small window, trying to make out their surroundings around the very large wing.

"So, how does this Gate help you use alchemy without a matrix?" Morgan asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you see in there?"

Struggling to come up with a clear answer, Ed turned his head to look at the dark-skinned agent. "It… I can't explain it. But it's like… instead of needing a matrix inside a circle… I become the matrix, and when I put my hands together, I make a circle out of myself. Does that make sense?"

Morgan thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "I mean, it's a science that doesn't exist here. I'm hardly gonna tell you you're wrong." He huffed out an incredulous laugh, like he was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around it. "This Gate is… not a physical gate, then. It's almost another dimension of its own?"

"Yeah." Ed glanced around the group. "I don't know—" He cut himself off, one hand flying out to grip the edge of the table as a somewhat high-pitched noise started somewhere inside the plane. "What is that?"

"It's just the plane being pushed back." JJ smiled kindly and pointed toward the window. "Look, we're moving."

Ed looked where she directed, and even though the wing was still taking up most of his view, he was able to see they were definitely moving. It was slow, and as the seconds ticked by, those high tones switched with low tones he could feel in his chest, the noises changing back and forth.

"Your hearing will change," JJ said, but Ed kept his gaze on the outside. "As the plane ascends and the altitude changes, your ears will pop, and you'll feel some weird sensations in your ears."

Nodding, Ed continued to watch, and before long, they had changed directions and were moving forward. He got pushed back into his seat as the plane picked up speed, just like they said he would, and he could feel the rumbling beneath his feet. They got faster, and his hold on the table tightened, and then he got a sensation he couldn't describe, but… it almost felt like the floor dropped out from beneath him.

"See?" Laughing, JJ leaned forward and rested her arms on the table. "It feels weird, doesn't it?"

But Ed couldn't answer. He was too busy watching the ground get farther and farther away. He felt his ears pop, and his hands found their way to the wall of the plane on either side of the window, his nose pressing against the glass as golden eyes saw everything around them turn into an entirely blue expanse.

"We're flying!" Ed tried to push himself closer to the window, which was impossible, but he still tried, feeling his hearing change again. "We're flying!" He could see clouds—clouds—right outside the clear barrier, and in a matter of seconds, they were below the wing.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Prentiss asked.

Ed nodded rapidly, and it took significant effort to tear his gaze away. "We're actually—" He managed to put his eyes back on them. "Uh, we were talking about the Gate." He stole another look at the window, still grinning, and then he tried to focus. "Right, the Gate. I thought, when I got here, that this place must be somewhere on the other side of the Gate, or maybe even inside it."

Rossi hummed. "So, we're looking into this 'Gate of Truth' as a means of getting you home. But you said you got into this Gate by doing something called human transmutation. I don't know what that is, but I can take a guess, and we're not doing that." He paused. "Were you actively performing human transmutation when you wound up here?"

"No!" Ed responded viscerally, the guilt tearing through him at the mere mention of his past crimes. "I… I only did it twice, and that was a long time ago."

Hotchner arched a brow. "You're fifteen. How long ago are we talking?"

"I was eleven," Ed muttered.

"Why were you trying to perform alchemy on a human?" was Hotchner's follow-up question.

Tensing up, Ed looked between the agents and eventually met Reid's eyes, a silent question in his own. Reid gave a small smile and a nod, and Ed felt reassured even though he had just met the man less than a week ago.

"My brother and I, we… we were trying to bring our mother back to life." Ed screwed his eyes shut. "It was a mistake. We just…"

"It's okay, Ed."

Ed opened his eyes and found JJ smiling at him. Weakly, uncertainly, he offered a smile in response. "That… was the only time we ever did it. That's how I lost…" He glanced down at his automail. "It just wasn't good."

For a second, there was nothing, but then Agent Prentiss spoke. "Do you remember what you were doing when you wound up here?"

"I… was talking to Lieutenant Hawkeye. She's under Colonel Mustang, who recruited me and is my direct superior." Ed squinted, trying to remember the events of that night. "I was returning something she had given me, and… she told me all about the Ishvalan War of Extermination. She was a sniper in it. Then…" He put a hand to his head. "I… think I was going to meet my brother, Al. But… I don't remember ever getting there."

"So, as far as we know, you were just walking when you suddenly fell through some kind of veil and wound up here." Prentiss tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "Was Matthews doing something? His killings were very closely linked to satanic rituals. He was chanting Latin phrases with fresh blood on the ground over a pentagram with several symbols added to the image. Is it possible this activity mimicked human transmutation and somehow triggered the Gate?"

Ed wasn't sure, but he found the idea interesting, and he was opening his mouth to respond when Reid looked at him.

"Ed, can you draw a human transmutation matrix?" Reid was entirely too excited for what he was asking. "Just on a piece of paper?"

Ed blinked. "What? No!"

Holding out his hands, Reid tried to calm the waters. "We're not going to use it. We just want to compare the matrix for human transmutation with the symbols and equations from our world. We might be able to find some similarities."

Ed balled his hands into fists, loathing the idea of ever creating that pattern on anything ever again, but he jerked his head in a stiff nod. "I'll draw it."

Reid leaned to the left, grabbing his bag from the floor and pulling out a couple pieces of blank paper and a pencil. "Here." He placed the items in front of the young alchemist. "If the matrixes for other transmutations are different, you can draw some of those, too. We really have no frame of reference, so anything you can tell us will be helpful."

"Mmhmm." Ed took the pencil in his left hand and took a deep breath, staring at the paper for a moment before he started to draw.

"We need a game plan for when we land," Rossi said, apparently content to move on the next issue of the day. "I have plenty of guest rooms in my mansion, and I don't have any neighbors close enough to see anything they shouldn't, so he can stay with me."

Ed kept his eyes on his paper, somewhat nervous—he had been hoping, if he had to stay with anyone, he would stay with Reid—and he waited for the next part of his future to be determined.

"We're not going to figure this out in a matter of days," JJ added. "He'll need clothes and toiletries, so we'll have to go shopping."

Rossi raised a hand in Ed's peripherals. "I can take care of that, too. Financially, at least. I'm not going shopping with anyone."

Frowning, Ed looked up from the intricate symbols and lines he was drawing, a somewhat embarrassed look on his face. "I can just wear this. You don't have to—"

"You're not wearing the same outfit for the foreseeable future," JJ interrupted, giving him a look that was somehow both stern and kind. "It's not a problem. We don't have to get a lot if it makes you uncomfortable, but we need to get you some basics."

Ed wanted to object—he didn't want to be a burden, and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to rely on them or be indebted to them—but he saw the logic in her statement. Besides, wasn't he already indebted to them? Would some clothes and soap really make that much of a difference?

"Okay," was what he finally settled on, and as the team launched back into a discussion of how to handle the coming days, Ed got back to drawing the matrix that always put a sick, twisting feeling in his gut.

It doesn't matter. I have to get home. I have to get back to Al.

He tilted his head down slightly and kept drawing.

July 25th, 2012

Emily Prentiss wasn't the most nurturing person on the planet. She liked to keep her distance, keep her emotions under control, keep everything in its designated box. That said, she had no idea why she volunteered to go with Ed to the store. It just seemed like everyone wanted to finish their reports and jump into research—especially Reid—before they could be called to another case. Then JJ got a call from Henry's daycare, and she seemed busy on the phone, so Emily just… volunteered.

"Okay, your suit's a dark color, but your shirt is white, so…" Emily looked around the Community Aid, knowing they had fewer options for men than women. "Well, they sort everything by color. We'll find something, I'm sure."

"I usually wear all black… and usually not a suit…" Ed looked around, confusion creasing his brow. "Don't stores normally have several of the same item?"

"Yes, but this is a thrift store."

Ed gave her an odd look.

"It's a store that sells clothes other people donate." Emily shrugged. "I wasn't quite sure what your style would be. What you're wearing looks like the clothes we have here, but a thrift store is the best way to find variety."

"Cool." Ed looked around at the racks. "So, when you're done with your clothes you just… give them away? Because that's really resourceful."

Emily glanced around and picked a row of shirts, leading the teen toward the smaller sizes. "Not everyone does it, but we try to recycle what we can." She came to a stop. "Okay. Black clothes." She indicated the rack. "Have at it."

Ed seemed uncertain—how could he not when he was in a literal alternate dimension?—but then he bolstered his confidence and started looking. They browsed for about an hour, with Ed asking the occasional questions and at one point going to a more colorful section to find a bright red sweat jacket, and then it was time to pay.

"Are you sure?"

Emily laughed softly. "It's fine, Ed. It's not gonna break the bank." She started digging in her purse for her wallet while Ed put his clothes up on the counter, and once she found it, she got out her credit card and waited for the total to show on the screen. "Thank you," she said as she handed the card over.

Smiling, the cashier completed the transaction and handed the two fairly large bags of clothing over the counter. Ed took them, a bewildered look on his face, but he managed to mutter a 'thank you' before he followed Emily out of the store.

"What was that?"

Emily glanced at him. "What was—" Oh. "It's a credit card. It's… a little strange when you try to explain it, but basically, there are companies that have money. You buy one of their cards, and you can use that card to pay for things, but the money doesn't come right out of your bank account. Then, at the end of every month, you pay the credit card company." She extended her hand, unlocking her car.

"Huh…" Ed twisted his lips, expression thoughtful, and then he put the clothes in the back of the car and climbed into the passenger seat. "It seems like a really weird, complicated process just to make a purchase."

Getting in the driver's seat, Emily started the car and put it in reverse. "Well, it can be nice if you don't have enough money at the time of the purchase, but you will have enough money by the time you get the bill. There's also the fact you don't have to pay it off all at once. You have a minimum payment. So, let's say you spent $100.00. When the end of the month comes, you may only need to pay $20.00." She opened her mouth to continue and explain interest and how you actually wound up paying more in the end, but she quickly decided that was just going to complicate things more. "There's a lot of working parts," is what she finally settled on.

"I wonder if I'll remember this stuff when I get back to my world." Ed looked out the window, and Emily couldn't make out the expression on his face, but he sounded somber. "I hope so. I don't want to forget."

Emily pressed her lips together, having no idea what to say, and she simply focused on driving them to Rossi's house and getting Ed set up with a bed and a shower. Reid said Ed had struggled to sleep at the hotel, even while taking painkillers, and it wasn't until about four in the morning on the 24th that Ed finally said he was pain free. Then he had napped very briefly on the plane, but Emily suspected he had been too hyped up on adrenaline to get any real rest, and once they landed, they had gone straight to Quantico. Then, from Quantico to Community Aid. Even if Ed wasn't a teenager with a developing brain and body that needed extra sleep, he still would have been exhausted.

"Let's just focus on getting you home. You can worry about your memory once you're safely back where you belong."

Ed continued to look out the window, but Emily thought she saw a smile pulling on his mouth.

Author's Note: So, I know it's not exactly action packed, but I needed to get both sides of this mash-up a little more acclimated to the idea of alternate universes and what goes on in them. I hope you enjoyed, and as always, I would really appreciate your feedback! Not sure which story will be getting updated next Wednesday, but you can always check out my tumblr! By the time I post my Sunday Update, I should know which story is getting updated when... or at least, I hope I will. Thanks so much for reading!