August 2nd, 2012

It hasn't been that long, has it? Reid stared at his phone, eyes flickering back over the text on the screen. It's been eight days. I guess that's long enough. He lowered his phone and looked across Rossi's lavish living room to the teen with four different books open in front of him. "Ed, we have a case. We need a plan."

Ed looked up and blinked. "Uh… for me?"

"Yeah." Nodding, Reid stuck a bookmark in the old spellbook he had been reading and closed it. "We can't just leave you here."

"Hey, I'm fifteen! That's practically an adult!"

Reid held up his hands. "That's not what I'm saying. You're in a literal alternate universe, Ed. What if something happens? You won't know where to go or what to do."

"Well…" Ed pondered it for a moment. "Yeah, okay."

Smiling slightly, Reid stood up from the floor. "We'll just have to find a way to sneak you into the city. I mean, we got you out of Rochester without anyone asking why a random teenager was tagging along with the FBI." He slipped his phone into his pocket. "You can bring some of these books with us, and we can—"

"Hey, did you see the text?" Rossi asked, coming into the room with a spatula in one hand and his phone in the other.

Reid nodded. "I was just about to tell Ed to pack some things for the trip. Can we swing by my place to grab my go bag?"

"Of course." Rossi pointed to Ed with his phone-holding hand. "Do you remember where I put the duffel bag I said you could use if something like this came up?" He waited for Ed to nod and then jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Good. I'm going to clean up our half-cooked lunch, and then we need to get out of here."

Reid gave a thumbs up that kind of turned to an 'okay' and then went back to a thumbs up before he just awkwardly dropped his hand. "Um…" He looked back at Ed. "You can go get packed. I'll gather some books for you."

"Sure." Ed started walking past Reid, and then he slowed to a stop, giving the taller man a squinted stare. "Can you really read 20,000 words a minute?"

Reid laughed. "That's the fourth time you've asked me that. I promise I'm not just running my finger over the pages of these books. I'm actually reading and retaining, and I'm going to help you get home."

Smirking, Ed continued toward the edge of the room.

"Hey, Ed." Reid waited for the boy to look at him again. "People have always treated me like a little kid, too. I wouldn't do that to you." He wet his lips, somewhat nervous and having no idea what he was doing, but knowing he needed to say something. "You're capable of great things, Ed. Not just in the future, but right now, where you are, at this age. Just… don't let anyone tell you different, okay?"

Ed stared at him for a moment, seeming surprised, but then he got that confident smile back on his face. "Believe me, I don't." He paused. "Thanks, Reid."

Reid smiled and turned back toward the books, crouching down and looking through the ones Ed had been reading. We haven't found anything yet… but I guess it's only been a week. Reid was no stranger to cases that took a long time to resolve, but he couldn't help being frustrated by their lack of progress. They all wanted to help, but really, there was only so much they could do without arousing suspicion. Reid was the only one working on Ed's situation 24/7 because he had taken a special kind of leave that allowed him to be called in for cases that required their presence only, but it wasn't like everyone on the team could take that leave. So Reid and Ed spent their days either at Rossi's or Reid's, pouring over books and being visited by members of the team during lunch breaks or after work.

There's got to be some way to narrow down our search. We can't just be looking at every form of magic that has circular designs associated with it. Squinting slightly, Reid considered the dark red cover of the book in his hands. It looks like magic to us, but where Ed's from, alchemy is considered a science. Maybe we need to find some kind of happy medium between the two. He continued to stack the books, trying to pick out the ones that seemed the most relevant. We have to get him home somehow.

August 2nd, 2012

Even though Ed had been on it once before, he couldn't help dropping his jaw a little when he took in the plane they were going to use to fly through the air for a second time. He just didn't understand how something so large and clearly heavy could get off the ground and stay off the ground for hours before smoothly touching down again. It was so unusual, and—

Ed cut off his own thoughts, glaring suspiciously when he realized there was someone he didn't recognize standing outside the plane. He slowed his steps, casting a look at Reid, who was walking beside him, but the young genius didn't look concerned in the slightest. Okay, that's good news. He looked back at the newcomer, taking in the white dress with pink flowers and shoes that appeared to shine in the sunlight. She didn't exactly look like a threat, but Ed wasn't stupid enough to believe appearances determined the truth about someone.

"…story for me being there?" she was saying to Hotchner when they walked up to her. "I mean, obviously there's a social media aspect, so my skills are needed, but computers are kinda a remote thing. People are going to wonder why I'm there."

Hotchner nodded seriously, one hand holding a dark bag similar to Ed's by his side. "What we're going to tell people is that the FBI has a minimum fieldwork requirement for BAU agents, and this is just your way of meeting that minimum."

She nodded eagerly. "I can totally make that work. Do they have—" She stopped suddenly, looked at Ed, and he figured she must have seen him approaching out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, you must be Edward!" She stepped forward and held her hand out, wearing a silver ring with a large, equally silver flower on her middle finger. "I'm Penelope Garcia. It's really nice to meet you."

Ed shook her hand, a little caught off-guard and not really knowing what to do with her bubbly personality. "Hi. I'm Edward Elric. It's nice to meet you, too." He looked at her dress again. "So you wear that while you're working for the military? I mean, not the military, the FBI." He was still getting used to law enforcement being different from the military.

"I know it's a little weird, but… I'm not even really an agent. I'm a technical analyst, so I just make magic happen on computers." She stopped then. "Not actual magic, but like, really cool stuff." She waved both of her hands, as if physically clearing the air. "Never mind! My point is: my position is a little less official than theirs."

Ed nodded and tried to make conversation. "Back in my… world, I guess, I wear a bright red jacket like this one—" he grabbed the edge of his partially zipped jacket, "—and I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the military who doesn't have a uniform."

"Most awesome, Ed." Penelope wore a smile, clearly approving of the rebellion against the system, and then she tucked a strand of wavy, blonde hair behind her ear. "Reid said he showed you his laptop and explained a little bit about what a computer is, but if you want, I could show you some really cool things."

"I'd love to." Ed smiled. "I want to learn everything I can about this world."

Penelope held her hand up for a high-five, and Ed obliged her, an act which caused her eyes to widen immediately. "Woah! Your hand really is made of metal!"

"Yeah, it's, um…" Ed looked down at his hand, which he figured wasn't very noticeable, even without a glove to fully cover it up. "We call it automail. Lots of people have it where I'm from."

"Can I touch it?" she asked, seeming intrigued and curious and not at all weirded out or disgusted by his unnatural limbs.

Hotchner cleared his throat. "Can we continue this on the plane?"

"Oh!" Penelope startled and turned slightly, grabbing the handle of a pink suitcase that shone the same way her silver shoes did. "Yes, Sir Hotch." She started up the stairs, and Ed found himself marveling at the fact she could climb anything in heels that high.

"Reid, I'd like to speak with Edward alone." Hotchner nodded toward the plane.

Ed felt tension coil around his spine, working its way up into his shoulders, and even though Reid gave him an encouraging smile before he started up the steps, Ed was on edge and ready for a fight. What that fight would be about, he wasn't sure, but he wanted to be ready.

"I want to express the importance of staying away from this case." Hotchner spoke seriously, eyes hard and unwavering. "You cannot be seen at the police station or crime scenes. You cannot be seen around town with a member of this team. You cannot draw attention to yourself period."

Ed narrowed his eyes. "I'm not stupid. I know I have to be careful."

"Do you understand what the consequences will be?" Hotchner didn't even hesitate, like he had known what Ed was going to say before it was said. "If someone finds out you're staying with an FBI team, suspicion will fall on the entire group, and they'll look for a connection. And when they can't find any relation between you and the members of this team, you will be taken away and put into the system. If your alchemy is discovered, you will be carted off to a lab. Remember how you asked Dr. Reid if he would experiment on you? Well, I can guarantee that whatever lab you're sent to will do exactly that."

Swallowing, Ed offered a faint nod. "I understand."

"Good." Hotchner pointed up the stairs. "I trust you'll be on your best behavior."

Ed didn't respond, even though the comment lit a fire in his veins, and he started up the steps with his bag at his side. He pondered what Agent Hotchner had told him, and he quickly came to the conclusion that his usual methods of taking risks and breaking rules weren't going to work in this situation. Like Hotchner said, he would have to be on his best behavior.

I can do that. It'll be easy.

And he stepped onto the plane.

August 3rd, 2012

Ugh… the pain is back. Ed reached up and gripped his shoulder, closing his eyes. For a second, he considered taking a break from his research to rest a little, but he quickly abandoned the idea. Then he thought about calling Reid on the little 'Tracfone' they had given him and asking for some of those painkillers, but that train of thought met the same fate.

Sighing, Ed looked down at the book he was reading. I don't see how magic is going to help us. Alchemy is a science. But from what Reid had been telling him—and Reid seemed very knowledgeable about the sciences of his word—they were very different.

Of course, Ed had thought about just trying to perform human transmutation to get into the portal, but he wasn't even sure he had gone through the Gate to get to this world. On top of that, when he had opened the Gate in Gluttony's stomach, he had had the abundance of souls from Envy to pay the toll.

Ed swore under his breath, his train of thought derailed by the pain in his shoulder and leg. It shouldn't be hurting like this. But it wasn't like he could ask around or go to the library and get a book on automail. I'm sure it's fine.

So Ed got back to work. He read an old book about magic with German origins. Ed didn't know anything about Germans, but Morgan had said the Ishvalan War of Extermination sounded reminiscent something called the 'Holocaust,' so he thought there might be a connection there. Like maybe Amestris was the Germany of an alternate dimension.

Al, I wish you were here. Partly because he knew his brother would have some ideas, and partly because… well, he just wanted Al there with him.

Swearing again, Ed let go of the book and clutched the place where the metal met his shoulder. He looked at his left leg, which he had stretched out and then folded more times than he could count, and he relented. He grabbed the device from the nightstand and flipped it open before setting it on the bed beside him. It was difficult to press the buttons because the phone just kept sinking into the mattress, but he got there eventually. It rang—he was still trying to wrap his head around the idea of a phone that wasn't connected to anything—and then Reid answered.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine." Ed cleared his throat. "I'm dealing with some pain, and I was just wondering if you had any more of that medicine."

"Yes, there's some in my—oh. My bag is with me." Reid made a humming kind of noise as he thought. "I can run it back to the hotel."

Ed immediately felt embarrassed and guilty. "You don't have to. The pain's not even that bad. I can wait until you get back."

"Are you sure?" Reid sounded concerned.

"Yeah. Yeah, absolutely." Ed cleared his throat again. "I'm good. Thanks, Reid." He pulled the phone away from his ear before Reid could respond, hesitating for a moment before he remembered he just had to fold it to hang up.

It's not that bad. It's nothing compared to the surgery. Though it did bring back memories of the rehabilitation that had come immediately after. I'm fine. He shook it off and looked back at the book in front of him. Hmm… a lot of this magic stuff centers around nature. That's kind of similar to alchemy. We harness our power from the shifting off the earth. Or at least, they were supposed to. After the way that Father guy had just turned it all off, Ed had to wonder where alchemy really came from. He also had to wonder if the alchemy used to create the homunculi was diff—

No. He had to focus. One problem at a time.

He dove back in and tried to push the nauseating pain from his mind. He was almost to the end of the book when the door handle turned. What the—? He clapped his hands and turned his arm into a blade, face screwing up in pain. "Who's there?"

"It's just me," came the somewhat familiar voice of Agent Hotchner.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Ed returned his arm to its natural state, a move which brought even more pain to his attention. "What's going on?" he asked as Hotchner approached while sliding a keycard into his pocket. "Do you need something?"

Hotchner pulled a rattling bottle from that same pocket. "Reid said you were in pain."

Once again feeling guilty, Ed averted his eyes. "It's nothing really…"

Hothcner hummed, clearly unconvinced. "You also don't appear to be sleeping even though it's almost midnight."

"I don't need someone telling me when my bedtime is," Ed snapped.

"Too bad," was Hotchner's response, a faint smirk pulling on the corner of his mouth. He handed Ed the medicine and grabbed the books from the bed one by one.

Ed reached out to stop him. "Hey, I'm still researching!"

"You can research tomorrow with a well-rested brain." Hotchner gave him a hard look and placed the books on the floor by the foot of the bed. "Take the medicine and get ready for bed."

Sputtering, Ed objected, both to the way Hotchner was talking to him as well as the order he was trying to give. "Everyone else is still awake! I should be awake, too. I can still get more research done!"

"We're going to be coming back to the hotel soon, and even if we weren't, we're adults. You're a child."

"I—"

"Edward." Hotchner looked at Ed with an understanding look on his face—like Ed didn't need to explain that he wasn't really a child—but also with a face that said he wasn't about to budge. "I know you're a fan of science, and if your science is anything like our science was in 1914, then you probably aren't familiar with the importance of sleep, especially on a young brain. If you stay up for extended periods of time, your cognitive functioning will go down, and ultimately, you will pass out and get the sleep you need. So it's best to go to sleep now and research when you wake up, with a fully refreshed and regenerated brain, instead of researching with a slowly decreasing accuracy and eventually falling asleep anyway."

Ed opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think up a response. He knew sleep was important, and as much as it felt like surrender to go to bed, he also knew Hotchner was right. No matter what Ed did, the same hours would be spent sleeping. It was just a matter of whether those hours occurred right now or sometime in the future.

"Edward. I can't imagine how much you want to go home right now, and I know it's agony to wait." Hotchner gave Ed a softer, more sympathetic look than he usually wore on his face. "But you need to get some sleep. Take the painkillers and go to bed."

Ed hesitated for a moment more, but then he just lowered his gaze to the bottle in his hands. "Yeah. You're probably right." He tried to open the bottle, but the lid wouldn't twist, and he couldn't really give it a lot of effort with the pain in his limbs.

"Here." Hotchner stepped closer and took the bottle. "You have to sort of squeeze the sides of the lid while you turn it." He did so as he explained. "It's to keep small, curious children from getting access to medicine they shouldn't have." He poured a couple gels into his hand, pursed his lips, and then poured out a couple more.

Ed took the pills and took them, and after using the bathroom, he painfully crawled into bed. He laid down, pulling the blankets up to his chin and screwing his eyes shut.

"Is this pain normal?" Hotchner asked.

Ed shook his head. "Not really. Sometimes when it rains or gets too cold, I get pain, but… not like this."

"Hmm." Hotchner folded his arms over his chest. "Is it possible this has something to do with your journey between universes? Something about the trip, or something about being in a world that isn't your own, that is negatively affecting you?"

Ed hated to not have an answer, but he really didn't know. It wasn't like he had moved between worlds before, and even when he had been in the Gate of Truth and Gluttony's stomach, he hadn't been there long enough to see what kind of effect it might have on his body.

"Hopefully, it's nothing serious. If the pain persists or returns, we'll take you to a hospital. No, I won't allow you to object to that." Hotchner started toward the door, reaching out to turn off the light.

"Hey, Agent Hotchner?" Ed had no idea why he said that.

Hotchner stopped and turned his head.

"You, uh…" Ed stuttered to a stop, trying to make sense of the thoughts in his head. "Were you coming back to the hotel for something?" he asked, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Smiling faintly, Hotchner shook his head. "No. I was just the only one who wasn't actively working on something. Leadership sometimes put you in that position."

Ed tried to process the concept of someone taking care of him. He had thought from the moment he met Hotchner that the man reminded him of Mustang, but… he couldn't picture Mustang bringing him pills when there was work to be done, even if Mustang wasn't actively doing it at that moment. Ed thought back to the words Lieutenant Ross had told him, about how he could trust people and not all adults were the enemy.

"I have a son."

Ed startled slightly, blinking at the agent.

"It changes your perspective on being in charge of other people. You start to realize the importance of providing more than just basic needs. You need to go the extra mile for those you're responsible for."

Ed nodded, averting his eyes. He has a son. He opened his mouth, sucking in a breath before asking a quiet, "Do you spend time with your son?"

"I try to," was the simple response. "This job makes it hard because cases don't come on a schedule. We can be in the middle of doing something or going somewhere, and suddenly I'm called away. But when I'm home, I try to be as involved and active as I possibly can."

Swallowing, Ed put his eyes on the ceiling. "Oh. That's good."

Seconds passed in silence, and then Hotchner flicked off the light. "Goodnight, Edward. Please tell one of us if the pain doesn't go away."

Ed just sort of hummed in response, reaching up to grab his shoulder at the mere mention of the fire burning through his muscles. He waited until the door closed, lying there in the dark, contemplating. He wondered what kind of father Mustang would be. He wondered what kind of father he would be. He wondered if having a child would change him in some way. He wondered if he had changed his own father, and if he had, why it hadn't been enough to keep Hohenheim from abandoning them.

It doesn't matter. Ed reached down to massage the flesh of his left thigh. I should try to sleep. Closing his eyes, he tried to get the wheels in his brain to stop turning, but between his frantic need to get home and the pain in his limbs, he knew it was going to be a rough night. I'm coming, Al. I promise.

August 5th, 2012

JJ sighed and pressed two fingers to her temple, trying to rub away the ache that had been forming there over the last two hours. She leaned against the inside of the elevator, mulling over the details of their most recent victim while she stared blankly at the bag of McDonald's in her hand. He left DNA at the scene… but we can't find him in the FBI database. But with his violent tendencies, he should have been arrested for a felony before now.

There was a ding, and the elevator doors slid open, and JJ walked into the hall. She continued to think over the case as she made her way to Ed and Reid's room, but she didn't have any ideas by the time she was knocking on the door.

"Hey, Agent Jereau," Ed was saying when he answered the door.

JJ smiled. "I've told you, Ed. Call me JJ." She extended the paper bag toward him with an apologetic smile. "I know you're probably getting tired of fast food, but you can't be seen around the city, so…"

"I like the food you're bringing me." Ed took the bag, lips quirking up in the corner. "How's the case? I mean, are you close to catching the guy?"

Exhaling hard, JJ shook her head. "We're hitting a lot of dead ends."

Ed opened the bag and reached inside, pulling out a handful of fries and shoving them in his mouth. "You said he's using that… social media stuff… to lure his victims, right?" He twisted his lips, waiting for her nod to continue. "So he's gotta befriend them. Is it romantic or just friendship?"

JJ hesitated for a moment, knowing she shouldn't share case details with a civilian, but she understood the situation they were in was very unconventional. "Romantic. He forms relationships with them as quickly as he can, they go to meet him somewhere, and the next day they're found dead."

"That's awful." Ed pulled out a single fry, nibbling on it as he continued to think. "I've only heard of a couple serial killers, and their murders weren't this thought out. They just found people, usually at night, and killed them on the spot."

"There are some killers who do that, and in my opinion, they're much harder to catch. Nothing methodical about the when, the where, the why, the how. But then you get presented with a case like this, where you have pages and pages of conversation between your victim and your killer, but the killer is so careful it almost doesn't matter." JJ was surprised by her own openness with her frustration about the case, but she didn't try to take it back. "It can make things difficult. But we've done difficult before. We'll find him."

Ed frowned. "I hope so. I can't imagine what it must be like to be killed by someone you think loves you." He got a look on his face like he was remembering something unpleasant, but he quickly shook it off and lifted the bag. "Thanks for the food, but I gotta get back to my books. I've actually found a couple patterns in the materials used to leave this dimension. Or at least, to spiritually or mentally leave it." He shrugged. "I don't know. But it's all I've got, so I'm taking another look."

"Just make sure you rest a bit, too. Don't overdo it." JJ reached out and lightly touched his arm. "I know you don't need someone telling you to take care of yourself, but…" She withdrew her hand, letting out an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry, I sometimes can't help myself."

Ed regarded her for a moment, and then his lips pulled up into a smile. "Yeah, well… my brother would say I do need someone telling me to take care of myself."

Folding her arms across her stomach, JJ gave Ed a curious look. "You mentioned your brother before. You said the two of you tried to bring your mother back."

"Yeah." Ed was watching her carefully, like he was afraid of her response.

"I take it you didn't have a dad to stop you from attempting the transmutation?"

Ed glanced away and shook his head.

JJ wet her lips, and as much as she wanted to shower the teenager in front of her with love and affection and support, she knew that wasn't going to help. Ed still didn't trust her—didn't trust anyone, except maybe Reid—and he seemed like the kind of person who had a hard time taking comfort and encouragement from people he did trust.

"So, you two are like the dynamic duo?" she asked, a bit of a joking tone in her voice.

Ed looked back at her, and after a second, he flashed a smile. "Yeah, we're… we're always together." He got a wistful look on his face. "Traveling all over the country… learning about alchemy… trying to get our bodies back to normal…"

JJ smiled. "It's always good to have someone at your side." She took a step back and pointed down the hall. "I've got to head back to the station. If you need anything, please give one of us a call."

"Sure. Thanks."

JJ started down the hall as Ed closed the door, and even though she was heading right back into darkness and depravity, a smile lingered on her lips. She didn't know what kind of life Ed had, and she didn't know what his support system looked like, but she hoped she could give him something he couldn't get at home. Not that she would have the arrogance to think she was going to give him some kind of life-changing experience or revelation, but she wanted to help. She wanted to ease the burden a bit. Maybe help him smile a little brighter. He seemed like the kind of boy who needed that.

Even if it's just a little… I hope I can do something.

August 6th, 2012

Morgan laughed, pulling his wallet out and sliding his room keycard from one of the slots. "You know, there are some things you should really just keep to yourself, Baby Girl."

Garcia reached up to cover her bright pink lips, swallowing the smoothie in her mouth before letting out a giggle of her own. "Look, it's not like I'm proud of it, I'm just saying, when I was fifteen—"

They both ground to a halt in the hotel hallway, a loud curse word and a dull thud signaling something was wrong. Morgan stole a glance at Garcia, and then he hurried toward the sound, which was coming from Ed's room.

"Hey, kid." Morgan knocked on the door, wishing he had a master keycard and could just barge right in. "Ed, let us in."

For a few seconds, there was nothing, and Morgan looked at Garcia with apprehension in his eyes, but then they heard movement. Heavy footsteps approached the door, and then it was pulled open to reveal a clearly upset Ed.

"Kid, what's going on?"

"Nothing." Ed glanced away. "I'm fine."

Morgan folded his arms over his chest. "Uh-huh. I believe that." He looked past Ed—which wasn't hard, given how short the kid was—and saw the array of books spread out on the hotel bed. Given that he was a profiler and could also do basic math, the problem was pretty easy to figure out. "I know it's frustrating when you're pouring everything you've got into something, and you're not making any progress. Everyone on this team has been feeling that over the past few days, but you can't—"

"You're not trying to get back to your own universe!" was Ed's angry response.

"Shh!" Morgan put a finger to his lips. "Come on, kid, we can't be talking about alternate dimensions in the hall." He gestured toward the room. "Let us in, and we'll talk about it."

Ed glared for a moment but eventually stepped back and held the door. Morgan and Garcia both entered, and Morgan waited until the door was closed to start talking again.

"You can't let the circumstances control you. I know it sucks that you're doing this all on your own while we're working the case, and I know you've been researching non-stop with no leads, but—"

Garcia smacked him on the arm and stepped closer, giving Ed a pink smile. "But it's okay to get frustrated and angry. It doesn't mean you're letting the circumstances win; it just means you're being honest about how they make you feel."

Clearing his throat, Morgan tried to recover. "Right, what, uh, what she said." He glanced at her just in time to see her eyes roll, and then he gestured toward the books. "Anything in particular that made you get mad?"

"I just…" Ed put a hand to his metal hand to his forehead. "Al is waiting for me. If we were separated for some other reason, like… like if we needed to stay apart to accomplish a goal or keep each other safe, then…" He swore again, shaking his head. "But it's not that. It's just that I'm stuck and can't figure out how to get back to him."

Morgan nodded a few times. "You're in a bad situation." He looked at Ed for another second or two, and then he started walking toward the books. "You know, sometimes things make more sense when you talk them through out loud. Maybe you should run your research by us."

Garcia clasped her hands together and smiled encouragingly at Ed. Ed sighed and walked begrudgingly over to the bed, but he didn't pick up a specific book. Instead, he put his hands on his hips and just looked at all of them, like he couldn't figure out where to start.

"Has there been anything that makes sense?" Morgan pressed, looking down at the tomes and noticing one toward the left was open to the image of a pentagram. "What about this?" He reached out, grabbing the book and giving it a closer look.

"I've come back to that a couple times. It's interesting that the pentagram is generally used for protecting from evil forces, and I thought about maybe combining a human transmutation circle with a pentagram and similar protective symbols, maybe to create some kind of field that protects the individual performing the transmutation, but it all comes down to whether your magic sees the consequences of our alchemy as an 'evil force.' What happens when you perform human transmutation is just… paying the toll. You're the one who opens the Gate. You're suffering the consequences of your own actions." Ed shrugged, tilting his head to the side with a look on his face that said he wasn't happy with his own conclusions. "You also have to consider the difference, again, between magic and science. Our symbols are alchemic, and many of them represent physical substances. Things like the pentagram just represent a concept or energy."

Morgan was looking at Ed with wide eyes, and he couldn't deny he was impressed. "You're really digging into this stuff." He turned his gaze back to the book. "But really, the alchemic symbols don't contain the elements they represent, right? So maybe a symbol that represents a concept is exactly what we're looking for."

Pursing his lips, Ed considered the idea. "Yeah, I guess that's true." He reached out and took the book from Morgan, giving the pentagram a hard look. "Maybe… maybe there's some way to create a new human transmutation circle. Something that isn't about really giving or gaining anything, but just… deconstruction and reconstruction." He reached up and put his flesh fingers to his chin.

"Sounds like you've got at least one thing figured out. Maybe that's a good stopping point for tonight," Morgan said, thinking about what time it was and knowing his own brain was exhausted from the day's research.

"What?" Ed practically exploded. "I can't stop now! I've got to figure out how to get home!"

Garcia stepped closer, holding her hands out. "We know you want to keep going, but it's good to give your brain a break every now and then." She tapped her index fingers together, silver nails clicking. "How about I show you a game?"

Ed gave her a look. "I'm not a little kid."

"Hey, now!" Garcia put a hand on her hip. "I play games, and I'm much older than you! Well, not much, just… I meant…" She held her hands up by her head, fingers splayed. "Not the point. My point is, games are for all ages, and I've got a great one in mind. I'm gonna introduce you to something legendary, Ed. We call it Tetris."

Ed gave the books a long look, and Morgan could see the guilt in his eyes.

"You gotta take care of yourself, kid." Morgan gave him a serious look. "And I really hope, in your world, someone is telling your brother to do the exact same thing. You can't research 24/7. It's not sustainable."

"I…" Ed slowly tore his gaze away from the open tomes. "I guess I could take a break."

Garcia clapped her hands together. "Awesome! Let me grab my laptop!"

Ed gave her a weird look. "I thought computers were used for, like, research and stuff. Like when you showed me the…" he struggled for a moment, "…Google search engine, it was to find answers for things. How do you play a game on a computer?"

"Oh, Eddie Boy, you have no idea." Garcia waggled her eyebrows. "I'm about to show you a whole new world."

Ed blinked, but he didn't seem opposed to the idea, and Garcia gave a little laugh before she walked out of the room. Morgan watched her leave with a smile on his face, and then he looked back at Ed.

"You're doing awesome, kid." Morgan reached out and lightly punched Ed on his flesh shoulder. "I know sometimes when we research, we feel like the leads that don't get us anywhere are a waste of time. But they're not. It's a process of elimination. We gotta know what doesn't work in order to know what does, so even though you're having long days of dead ends, you're still making progress. Got it?"

Ed stared up at Morgan, and after a few moments of silence, he offered a nod. "Yeah, okay." Turning toward the bed, he started to gather the books and bookmarks—or whatever he was using as bookmarks. "I should clean this up."

Morgan watched for a moment, but then he walked around the bed to grab the books on the other side. "I'll help you, and then I've got to get some sleep. We're back at it first thing in the morning."

Ed didn't say anything, still wearing a contemplative expression on his face.

Geeze. I wonder when the last time was that this kid got some encouragement. Not just a 'pick yourself up and force your way through,' but real encouragement. Morgan tried to discreetly watch Ed's face. If he was allowed in the military at twelve, and if his universe is set in the early 1900s, you gotta figure they don't really understand childhood. If you can walk and talk, you can work like an adult can. No concept of adolescence or emotional and mental health. Geeze, kid… we've got a lot of work to do before we get you back to Amestris.

Author's Note: And in the next chapter, Ed gets himself into a little trouble. I have no idea what I'm posting next Wednesday! I would honestly like it to be an update on Sparkling Eyes and Cigarette Burns, but if I can't get that ready in time, it'll be Chapter 5 of this. Follow my tumblr or website, and I'll have a definitive answer in the Sunday update. Thanks for reading!