And you know I found the dust to be resilient
And we're the dirtiest of the dirt
Every time we fall to pieces
We build something new out of the hurt
And we can never come back to earth
To earth, to earth, to earth, to earth
We can never come back to earth, to earth, to earth

**********

There are certain moments in a person's life that shapes them into who or what they are meant to be; changing their lives but never their destiny. For some it's meeting a person, others find that it's losing a person of great importance to them. It might be gaining a job, finding out your wife is pregnant. Hell, it might even be that the stray you picked up belonged to a wealthy man who rewarded you. In fairy tales, it's the knight slaying the dragon and saving the princess, the princess is cursed until her true love saves her, and so on and so forth.

Each person's life in a timeline is constantly shifting and morphing and twisting and turning. He didn't meet her, she didn't stop to help him, they didn't do this, they didn't do that... Whatever happens in the story always leads to the same ending. It doesn't matter how much the trail a person follows breaks away to start anew, or how many times the roads to their destiny are abandoned. The outcome is forever the same.

However... there are some instances where this is not entirely true. When some lives haven't been lived to the fullest, or have somehow -  someway met an unfavorable end, measures are taken to correct the mistakes. Time is unwound, roads are broken and rerouted, and destinies are rewritten.

Truth isn't supposed to favor one human above the rest and while normally this would be true, he does have a certain soft spot for those special few in Amestris. Perhaps it was because things happened that shouldn't have - the unfavorable ending, or maybe they were just amusing to him. Whatever the case, things had gone wrong.

The Elric brothers had been brought together but their family was too far away and there would be no chance of return. That Curtis woman died of her injuries and while that was far from abnormal, something didn't sit right with the omnipotent being. Van Hohenheim died at the hands of Envy and while that was a cruel justice for an immortal being of his crimes, something could have been better. Mustang had been cut off from those he trusted and suffered in silence, half-blind and alone in the cold winters of the North. Even the homunculi were off base in their own rights.

Then Truth grinned and without much effort, rewrote time and the destinies belonging to it. He let loose time and watched as events unfolded, new stories were forged, and roads paved. When it was all said and done the being was indeed happier with the newer and more favorable ending. 

But even gods grew bored. Truth wanted to see what would happen if he did this or that, but he didn't want to lose what was already there. So he created what humans would call the Multiverse; a place where anything could happen and may have already happened. Small variants in time creating new and diverse roads. Completely alike yet vastly diverse.

The Amestrians didn't know or care what their lives had once been. All that mattered was their present and future.

However it wasn't like that for one soldier. Roy Mustang had watched as Aiden Wilson tried to attack Selim Bradley and the Fuhrer, Pride and Wrath, only to end up with a shadow through her gut. And then suddenly he was in that white void with that thing that only grinned at him before he was grabbed by several black hands - the kind that took Fullmetal - and dragged him through a gate.

There was no time to process anything when he felt so overwhelmed. They were in the middle of a coup, his best friend was alive, he was forced to commit human transmutation, and Aiden was...

Father was in front of him and he would burn him alive for what he did. He wouldn't succumb to revenge but he would sure as hell take his anger out on the immortal being. Guided by Hawkeye's sight, he put everything into trying to burn out Father's Philosopher's Stone. He poured in his disdain for the scumbag into every snap.

And when it was all said and done, when Father was no more and Edward had gone to retrieve Alphonse from the gate, he stood and waited. He ignored Hawkeye's pleads to get him situated in one of the tents they were setting up for the wounded and insisted on waiting for the boys. When there was the sound of two thuds and multiple gasps, the Lieutenant led him down a slope.

"Colonel?" Ed questioned. It sounded as though the teen was below him. Sitting maybe?

"Did you get him?"

"I did. But he's..." The way the boy trailed off made Roy frown. Was something wrong with Al? "He's unconscious and well, naked."

There was no greater feeling than the relief he felt at that moment. Roy laughed lightly and shed the black coat he always wore and handed it down to Edward. Not that he knew it, but his aim was off and it smacked Ed in the face. 

"Thanks."

A light patter of feet drew their attention and a young girl's voice yelled out, "Alphonse!"

"He moved!" Edward gasped. "Al... Al... Hey! Alphonse!"

Silence reigned and Roy almost asked the Lieutenant what was going on when, "Oh..."

"Mr..." the girl sniffled, "Mr. Alphonse!"

"Woah!" Al exclaimed. Roy noticed the echoing of the voice he knew had gone. Al was silent for a moment as the girl cried. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know I put you through a lot." A rustling of fabric reached Roy's ears. "Who gave me this?"

"Huh? Oh, it was the Colonel," Ed supplied.

"Thanks Colonel."

"I didn't want to leave without seeing..." Roy cut himself off and the area cringed, remembering his new handicap. "Without knowing you were okay."

"Well, thanks again," he said, looking around. As he did, he noticed one face missing. "Where's Aiden? Shouldn't she be here?"

Every adult within hearing range consciously looked away from the boy. Al frowned and looked to his brother who looked just as confused as he did. Ed glanced up just in time to see the stricken expressions on the Colonel and Lieutenant's faces. 

Dread crept into him. "Colonel where's Aiden?" he asked warily. Alphonse's head whipped around and he too stared at them.

"Aiden was stabbed by one of Pride's shadows when Roy was sent through the portal," a voice said. The boys turned to stare at the nearing figure of Maes Hughes, which was shocking everyone not in the know. Even Roy had a hard time getting used to hearing his friend again. He waved a bandaged hand in greeting. "Hey."

Ed's eyes widened and he jolted forward in shock. "But if she... then..."

"Make way! Move! We got a live one here!"

Maes stood and turned in haste, running to the side of two Briggs men carrying a blue uniform stained red. "Take her to the hospital," he ordered. "Hurry!"

Roy's mouth was set in a firm line. "Hughes, what was that?"

"I sent two men to collect her body but they said she still had a pulse. They're taking her to Central Hospital as we speak."

A coldness shocked his system and he processed the words. Aiden was alive. The colonel went to take a step forward only to be held back by Hawkeye. "Sir you can't!" she said. "The hospital is likely being flooded with major injuries as we speak. You need to stay here and heal. You'll only get in the way over there."

"The best we can do is hope they can save her," Maes said.

The boys and the rest of their injured group were quickly taken care of by military nurses and doctors. Those with life-threatening injuries were sent to the hospital. Riza, who left Roy under the care of Maes, left to find a doctor to take care of Roy's hands and her own wounds.

"What's your type of person?"

Roy looked up over his desk at Maes. He'd pulled up a chair and was leaning against the side of the table, a rather bored expression on his face as he listened to Jean boasting about his newest girlfriend. Her name was Lola. They all wondered how long it would last.

"My type of person?" he repeated, thinking over the words. After a moment's silence he said, "They'd have to be sharp-minded and witty enough to keep up with me. Genuine and they don't give much stock into what others think of them. Someone strong, fearless, and kind. They'd treat me like a person and would understand that my job might take me away from them. Someone who reminds me of the light... and what's worth fighting for."

"Sounds like you've already got your person figured out."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Sure you don't. Anyhow, look at my Gracia! Can't you just picture us together?"

Roy sighed and nodded as his friend began to rant about how Gracia had accepted his proposal for the seventh time. As he listened, his eyes slid over to the couch in the center of the room where Captain Aiden Wilson and Warrant Officer Riza Hawkeye sat in a heated discussion about something he couldn't hear. Aiden shook her head and muttered a word he could vaguely read as 'damn it' before nodding and accepting whatever the blonde woman was saying. As Riza reached for a snack Aiden made a funny face before returning to a neutral facade. Her eyes caught his and she winked.

Of course his type of person, was also a complete idiot.

The last thing he saw was Aiden dying, or at the very least being mortally wounded. And then the woman had the audacity to smile at him as if she wasn't the one being gutted. She smiled at him with tears in her eyes and there was something in him that knew she was saying goodbye and he wasn't ready to accept it. He was ready to have his way with Pride and the Fuhrer but losing his eyesight shocked his system in more ways than one.

"What're you thinking about?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

"No, I don't."

"Huh? Colonel Mustang?"

Two heads snapped up at the voice. "Dr. Knox?" Roy asked.

The doctor nodded. "Uh-huh." He'd been brought in for medical assistance, along with any doctors in the area. Hell, there were even some veterinarians making use of their bandaging skills here and there. "Things sure are crazy right now. Are you hurt too?"

"I've lost my eyesight."

The man almost fell out of the tent. "What?"

"Truth's toll from the person who had a vision for this country." The Colonel ran a hand over his face and if he could've, he would've been staring at his hands in distaste. "... Funny. I would give my own portal as the toll to undo the damage, the way Edward did, but if I did that then I won't have any way back. My eyes are trapped on the other side and now there's nothing I can do about it."

There was no need to say that he'd give his gate just to fix Aiden. But the moment she wasn't in life-threatening condition she'd no doubt punch him and scream at him for giving away something that she, quite literally, may have been able to live without. Roy folded his hands and tried to not rub at the aching that lingered against the numbing agent Maes had given him. 

"Soldiers who lose their eye-sight are discharged! You can forget about promotions, let alone-"

"I'm going to let Grumman have the presidency. He's a good choice." Roy stared straight ahead and managed to meet the doctor's eyes. 

"And you're okay with that?"

He smiled ruefully. "Well I wouldn't say okay, but still, I won't let it stop me from moving forward either."

Knox sighed. "I bumped into an interesting fellow on my way here. Get in here Marcoh!"

Maes raised a curious eyebrow. "You mean Dr. Marcoh?"

Marcoh shuffled around in his white coat and retrieved a red stone. Maes almost dropped in shock; he and Aiden hadn't figured out where that stone had gone and the notes left behind never specified. The last entry had to do with the boys getting their bodies back, nothing more. Though Aiden had added her own saying that the boys eventually separated to research more alchemy and Ed and Winry married. She said she couldn't remember anything else.

"Colonel Mustang I have a Philosopher's Stone," Marcoh said. Roy sat straight up and gaped in the general direction of the man. "You can use it to pay the toll and get your eyesight back, can't you."

He immediately began shaking his head. "Doctor, I-"

"Wait! I'll give this to you on one condition! Our plan would not have succeeded without the cooperation of the Ishvalan people. Colonel Mustang... I want you to undo the current Ishvalan policy! Lift the blockade around Ishval and allow the Ishvalan refugees in the slums to return to their homeland. And... let me go too! To live and work as a doctor!"

Roy sighed and slouched on the crate he'd been sitting on. "That's right... You're also a veteran of that bloody war." He held out a bloodied hand which the doctor carefully took, being mindful of the injury. "I give you my word. I'll do everything in my power to create a new Ishvalan policy. Hughes! I need you to deliver a message. 'It's going to get busy again. Follow my lead.' Tell that to my subordinates."

"Not even three hours back and he's already barking orders at me," Maes said lightly "Whatever is a man to do?"

"After that, you can go home. I'm sure Gracia and Elicia are missing you."

Maes paused at the flap of the tent. "You sure?"

"I'll be fine Hughes, I have the doctors. Go."

"Thanks, Roy."

Marcoh waited a few moments before saying, "You should know that the Stone I possess is made from the lives of Ishvalan's taken during the war."

A grim smile etched itself upon Roy's face. A Philosopher's Stone made from Ishvalans... "I know some people who won't like this, especially Fullmetal. But first thing's first, there are two people who need that Stone more than me. You can heal me after you heal them."

From there, things progressed quickly. Soldiers were sent home with instructions from doctors and as the military grounds were emptied, others began to move in and clear the rubble that was still left behind. Alchemists were heavily relied upon and did most of the work fixing Central Command. But there was a lot of damage and there were things that could only be fixed in stages, which took energy and prolonged the final date of completion. 

Maes had met up with Gracia and though the woman was happy to see him - she cried tears of joy when she opened the door - the woman did smack him for staying away so long. He explained his reasoning and how Aiden saved him and Gracia apologized, still promising a smack for Aiden too. Elicia was overjoyed that her father was back and barely questioned the whole affair, both parents telling the three-year-old that her father had a secret undercover spy mission to do and that was why he was gone for over half a year. They hadn't yet figured out how to explain the funeral.

Jean had been called in so his spine could be healed and begin physical therapy. He was staying with Riza until he could functionally get around on his own, mostly because her apartment was on the ground floor and the only one wheelchair access friendly aside from Roy's home. But even then the bedrooms were on the second floor. Riza spent the most time with him, and her patience with Jean's frustration at his atrophied muscles was a god-send, as only she could calm him most times.

Ed and Al had been transferred to the hospital where they could deal with Al's skeletal body a lot better than any trained field medic. Ed was taken in when he wouldn't leave his brother's side, which was understandable, and for surgery to rid him of some automail still left in his shoulder. They couldn't take it all in one go; they wanted to give his bony arm time to heal and his balance to readjust to the loss of an automail arm.

Roy had been doing well as a blind man, all things considered. He knew the layout of his house and could walk in blindfolded - though there was no need for that now. The only thing he truly needed help with was food. The man didn't dare try to cook or make even the simplest items. There were too many foods that felt the same, not to mention the things in containers. He wasn't about to try to make a simple sandwich when the mayo could be butter or something else. Salads would prove difficult when considering the dressing alone; it might be barbecue sauce rather than ranch...

But while his days were spent with one of his subordinates and friends watching over him in some way or another, his nights were... less than pleasant. Back when he had still been reintegrating into society after the Ishvalan war, nightmares and episodes were constants. Drinking had been a distraction until sense had, quite literally, been knocked into him by Aiden, Maes being the person to patch him up afterward. The nightmares hadn't been about Ishval. Instead, they took on a more recent figure.

Every time he went to sleep he saw her die. No matter how much he wanted to drink and blackout, knowing it was a terrible idea, he listened to his voice of reason and powered through it. But pure determination didn't get rid of nightmares, at least, not those ones. He still saw Aiden lying in blood. He heard her choke down a scream and there was no denying her gasp of pain or the disgusting noise made when Pride retracted his shadow from her stomach.

At times he woke up sweating or even screaming from the nightmares and he couldn't comfort himself by knowing she was alright because she wasn't. There was no turning on lights and staring at himself in the mirror to calm down. He couldn't see her in the hospital and it was killing him because he wanted to see her. At least then he knew she was there and not what everyone told him.

To make matters worse she couldn't heal. Marcoh had tried all the different methods he knew in healing with and without the Philosopher's Stone. He said it was as if there was something blocking any attempt to heal. Her body was healing on its own, however slowly, but it wouldn't accept help from an outside source. Marcoh speculated that because the wound came from Pride, the first homunculus made by Father, a wound so severe may not heal properly. It didn't make anything better when he heard she'd gone into cardiac arrest once already.

"It was shortly after her heart rate spiked," Fuery had reported.

From that moment they could delay no longer. Marcoh fixed his eyes and bid him goodbye, traveling to the nearest Ishvalan encampment in need, and then beyond. While his hands were still healing - Roy didn't feel the need to heal his hands aside from the bones - he spent much of his time in the hospital. 

The Elric brothers were coming along nicely. Edward's arm wasn't as skinny and was gaining muscles back with a weight Breda had gifted him. Alphonse was no longer on a fluids-only diet and was steadily beginning semi-solid food which delighted him to no end. The team was excited to finally meet the youngest brother and it was almost comical how Edward made them wash up before getting anywhere near Alphonse. Even with all the attention given and received, everyone knew there was something missing and there was no need to ask who it was.

The first time he'd laid eyes on Aiden in her comatose state, Roy and Edward had been wheeling Al around the corridors. It was a silent unanimous decision to visit her, as none of them had before. When they'd entered the sterilized room the trio didn't freeze and they didn't begin to cry. But they did feel their hearts shatter seeing Aiden so wounded and pale. Though Kain had kept them updated on her condition, he never said she looked so... dead.

Aiden's life-threatening condition hadn't truly set in until that moment. There was nothing that could be said to comfort them as her pale image seared itself into their minds. They knew that the only thing they could do was sit and wait.

Unknown to them, the woman's mind was not, in one word, present. She wasn't having flashbacks of her life and reminiscing about the good old days and she wasn't sitting in some pitch-black darkness listening to what went on around her.

"It figures I'd end up back here."

When she'd lost consciousness after being impaled for her foolish and impulsive actions, it only made sense Aiden would appear in Truth's domain. The figure across from her said nothing, not even a hint of his usual grin on his face. Aiden breathed a heavy sigh and shook her head. Her uniform was caked in blood and she reached a hand across her stomach where the wound should have been and she wasn't disappointed; there was a hole through her, no mistaking that. Although she wasn't bleeding, almost like the wound was being held in stasis.

"Seeing you stick your hand inside yourself is almost disturbing," a familiar voice chimed. "Love the longer hair though."

Aiden's head snapped up to the female standing next to Truth. The long white hair and scar over the right eye threw her, but there was no doubt about it. "Katy? What're you doing here? Don't tell me you-"

Her former subordinate shook her head, "No, nothing like that. In short, I felt you die."

She felt her stomach drop, figuratively of course. "So I'm dead then?"

"Ah, well, not exactly. It's more like you're in limbo... Your mind is here, but in the real world your body can't degrade. Outside elements have no effect on it. That was one of my ideas."

"Why?"

Katy motioned towards Truth who had been strangely silent during the conversation. "I made a deal with him to get you here before you died, and I finished my task only moments before you got here."

Aiden stared at her with wide, panicked eyes as dread filled her. She could feel her heart jump into her throat. "What did you do?"

"Jessica Aberdeen never existed," she began.

"But that's impossible!"

"So I became her."

"Excuse me?" Aiden asked darkly.

There were only so many things she could accept in her abnormal life. Other worlds? She happened to like the multiverse theory. God-like beings and an actual goddess? Fuck yeah, let's figure out how many religions were correct. Immortal beings hell-bent on destruction? Throw that in the mixing pot as well, this disastrous soup has to have character. Being told the teen she cared for as both mother and sister never existed?

A slap echoed across the white expanse. Katy's head snapped to the side, bloody handprint splayed across her left cheek. She slowly turned back to the woman. Aiden's face was shadowed by her black hair and Katy's showed both shock and resignation. She'd never been the best person at explanations.

"Jessica was never born so I became her. You needed that journal of events and I was the only person that could do it. No one else would write out things like that for shits and giggles, Aiden. I did it because without it the timeline would have fractured and broke, and you would have died in that car crash along with Tristan. Because I was there I saved him and you were taken to Amestris but I wasn't finished writing! Jean gets his legs back with a Stone from Marcoh and Mustang's eyes are fixed."

"What?" The words are whispered with such relief that Katy almost wants to pat Aiden on the back. "You're telling me he's going to be okay?" Tears appeared at the edge of Aiden's vision and she quickly wiped them away. "Hang on, if you're here then where's Jessica? I mean, who's looking after Tristan? And why don't you look like Jess?"

Whereas Jessica had long, wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tan complexion, Katy's hair was straight as an arrow coming just past her shoulders. Katy's eyes were a Caribbean green and was paler than most people she knew. Not to mention Jess stood at only 5'2 while Katy was 5'9. Katy was the tallest person she knew aside from Jean, Falman, and Armstrong. The girl was taller than her by three whole inches.

Katy glanced away. "He's with his grandparents and a copy of myself that'll live a normal life alongside him. As for my appearance, I'm like Envy."

"Why did you want me here?"

"I can get you home. Truth and I operate by different rules. I can take you back and you can stay with Tristan, or you can stay in Amestris. This is a one time deal, I have others to care for and you'll do well in either universe."

Aiden turned sharply to Truth. "She can do that? She can allow me to bypass equivalent exchange?"

Truth nodded, "Yes."

"You want me to choose between my baby and Amestris, the earth I've lived on for almost a decade."

"So, what'll it be?"

"I think the answer's obvious, don't you?"

Back in the hospital, the sun had set only an hour ago and visiting hours were near closing. Roy sat hunched over in his chair and sighed deeply, looking rather worse for wear with a slight stubble beginning to grow. Watching her be so still was killing him and it was no secret. Even the nurses who came in gave him sympathetic looks.

Roy ran a tired hand over his face, casting a long glance at Aiden who hadn't so much as twitched. "You're supposed to be here, to see the boys. Before you left, you said, 'Through Hell and beyond.'" He chuckled lowly as tears built up in his eyes. "How are you supposed to support me and stay with me when you're here?"

A rapid beeping sounded as the heart monitor went off and Roy shot to his feet in alarm. Aiden was flatlining. Aiden was dying. Before he could process his own movements, he was bolting out of the room. "Nurse! We need some help in here!"

He glanced back at Aiden and suddenly he was shoved aside as nurses and doctors flooded the room. "She's going into cardiac arrest again!" a doctor shouted.

One of the nurses grabbed his arm and dragged him from the room. "What - no - I'm not leaving her!"

"Colonel you need to move or we can't save her!"

With those words alone he was out of the room, but he didn't dare back away further than the doorway. His heart raced in time with the alarms going off and he watched as they grabbed a defibrillator.

"Clear!" Everyone aside from the doctor moved away and a shock was sent through Aiden's system. "No change! Charging up to three hundred joules. Clear!"

Her body jerked and went still.

"Clear!"

The steady line remained.

"Clear!"