Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Gravity Falls. They belong to Hiromu Arakawa and Alex Hirsch respectively. I only own the OC characters.

Description: This one came to me in a dream. A lot of my ideas come to me in dreams. I dream of some weird stuff. I have dreams of things that most people would consider nightmares. Since dreams are bad at transitions and are not too keen on giving much detail, I've written it in a way that makes sense. This takes place in my Fullmetal AlchemistxGravity Falls crossover universe, but again, it's not a part of the timeline I plan on writing.

WARNING: This story contains nonconsensual rape and elements of pedophilia. Do not read if you are triggered by any of these.

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Everyone stumbled out of the overcrowded SUV, each occupant stretching out their muscles and complaining about aching joints. All except for two; one didn't even have a body to get cramped with, and the other was just a bit too eager regarding the situation. In fact, he should have muscles just as contorted, given his age.

"Uh, Stanford?" Katelyn asked, rubbing at her sore shoulders. "Remind me again why we drove hundreds of miles to Washington of all places?"

"Because," the old man answered, "a very rare opportunity came up to give me the chance to present my anomaly research. It will help us keep the world safe from any temporal or dimensional imbalance."

Stanley joined his twin by his side, loudly cracking his spine. "Yeah, but that doesn't explain why you had to drag all of us to your nerd conference." Ford seemed to ignore that comment. His eyes twinkled behind his glasses. "Stanley, you're missing the big picture." He gestured at the front entrance of the splendid hotel they had arrived to. "If I can get my research some valuable recognition and funding, I could find a way to open an interdimensional portal safely."

Katelyn glanced over to him at those words. "And, find a way to get you guys back home." She turned to the boys huddled up close to their small group as she said this, who both perked up at being mentioned. Stanford grinned. "Exactly," he affirmed. He turned his attention to the doors, adopting a confident march as his stride. "Come along, I've made reservations," he said. "They're waiting for us."

Upon following the man and entering the hotel's main lobby, several collective gasps could be heard. The room was cavernous, the ceiling arching upwards elegantly. Marble pillars lined the pathways to the front desk, sitting areas scattered around. Two glorious chandeliers were strung high above them, glittering in the natural light of the sun coming through the windows. Mabel's eyes sparkled. "This place is amazing!" she squealed, skipping around on the smooth granite floor.

"It's like the Northwest mansion on steroids," Katelyn commented in awe. She tried her best to take in all the splendor, feeling how out of place she was. This was definitely not for people like them. Rosalin, her older sister, looked like she could hardly stay still beside her. The Elrics were equally as captivated.

Stanford had already approached the front desk, checking in with the receptionist. In a blur of brown curls, Mabel darted off to the right, down the hallway that opened there. The bottom floor held a ballroom and several conference halls. Mabel dashed straight for the ballroom, whooping and hollering at the top of her lungs. "Let's get this party started!" Her twin brother Dipper had chased after her, eager to get in on the action. The sisters were close behind him, ready to prevent the young teens from completely destroying anything they came into contact with, and subsequently get them kicked out of a fancy resort.

Edward had the vaguest urge to join them but decided against it. The Johnstons had their hands full enough already. No need to add to it, despite the tempting notion of irritating Katelyn. Instead, he hung back in the main lobby, pulling off his left glove to gently run his bare hand over the surface of one of the pillars. Alphonse stood there, watching curiously.

"Pardon me."

The voice nearly made Ed jump out of his skin. He jumped backwards, assessing whoever's presence had made themselves known. A man dressed in a rich business suit stepped around the pillar, just coming from the hall on the left. It was obvious that the vestiges of age were showing through: his white hair smoothly gelled down, his neatly trimmed beard and mustache, the crow's feet crinkling at the corners of his eyes. His eyes themselves were a sharp blue, like Kate's, except colder. It unnerved him. Something about this guy screamed bad news.

"Oh, hello sir!" Ed was saved from the awkward staring contest with the man as Al joined them, tone chipper and lighthearted. "We didn't see you there."

The man glanced between the vertically challenged boy and the hulking suit of armor standing next to him, scrutinizing them intently. His gaze finally settled on Ed, which made him nervous. He could feel the man's eyes on him, like swarming ants. "I mean no offense when I ask this," he said in his deep, sultry voice, "but what brings you to a place such as this?" It seemed like he was asking Ed more than the both of them.

"Well, you see," Al began, leaning forward, "we're here to do some research for these friends of ours."

"We're with them." Ed pointed at the two men still at the front desk. The man followed where he was pointing, eyebrows rising upon glimpsing them. "Ah, I see," he said, rubbing at his chin. "You're participating in the development of anomalous phenomenon and interdimensional travel?"

If Al had an eyebrow, he would have raised it in suspicion. "You know about that?" he asked. The man chuckled. "Of course," he responded. "I'm a shareholder in this type of research, you know." The watch on his wrist beeped. He glanced down at it, frowning. "I'm afraid I have to be going, gentlemen," he said. "Business calls me away." He glanced back at the boys to give them a pleasant smile. "Let's hope to meet again sometime." He then strode towards the exit, climbing in the backseat of a waiting car just outside. It sped off, out of sight. That uneasy feeling Ed had did not go away.

"We're all set!" Stanford declared, approaching from the desk, Stanley in tow. Somehow, the sisters had managed to wrangle the pair of twins from the ballroom and back into the lobby. They were both clearly winded as they joined the group. Mabel was riding on Katelyn's back, bursting with energy. The girl playfully poked Kate's cheek with a "Bap!" before sliding down to land on the floor.

"Who were you guys talking to just now?" Katelyn asked once she had full balance again. She had seen the man walk away from them as she was dragging Mabel back to the lobby. She couldn't help but notice how unsettled Ed looked.

The blond shrugged. "I don't know. He said he was a shareholder for the research we're doing."

"A contender already? Excellent!" Katelyn resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Stanford's obsession with his scientific development was something she would never understand. She grabbed the envelope that held their hotel keys from the man's hands, opening it. Her face scrunched into disbelief. "What the-? We all have four separate rooms?" She looked over each card carefully. "We're not even next to each other."

"That was all I could afford," Stanford explained. "We're lucky that we're even on the same floor." Katelyn appeared befuddled. She could never fathom the large prices that the rich were used to. It wasn't her type of scenario at all.

The cards were distributed to each pair of siblings. Ed turned it over in his hands, completely lost. "How do we use this?" he asked.

"There'll be a slot on the door handle that you slide it into. If the light flashes green, then it's unlocked." Katelyn flashed him a smirk. "Wonders of the future, eh?"

"All right, everyone. Grab your luggage. It's time to get settled in." They all followed Stanford's profound declaration, grabbing their assorted bags, all relieved that they finally get to relax.

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Author's Note: This first part feels cringey to me. It's more of an introduction before diving into the deep end. We'll be getting into the angst soon enough. This story, as well as future stories, will be attempting to establish the relationship I want between Edward and my OC. If you don't like this either, I guess this one's not for you.

I have been told that I should put trigger warnings for all of my stories, especially the ones that contain rape. From now on, I will do my best to remember to include these warnings. I will also take the time to go back and put in warnings where I forgot to. Please, also keep in mind that this entire work is labelled as mature, so read at your own risk.

I still have classes tomorrow. Ugh.

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower