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kattythingz · 6 months ago

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YJ x FMA Pt. 4

Yeah. Another one.

I am so sorry Solaris 😔 You'll have my love again when Jinx is done betaing your shitty first draft. No, I swear!! Really!!!

Anyway some of y'all might've missed it in the tags of pt.1, so I'm putting it here again just in case, but edling are about 21-22 in this au! Three years-ish post-canon of my magnum opus, Ed keeps his alchemy, blah blah usual crossover indulgences.

🧡 Pt. 1 💛 Pt. 2 🤍 Pt. 3 🩵

They’d admittedly lost track of time following that previous conversational note.

Robin had been bursting with questions since Ed confirmed Kaldur’s theory about his powers—alchemy, Ed stressed, a science, though Robin called bogus—and Ed was really no help with how receptive he was to each follow-up. Ling was a pretty chatty guy too by nature, but he’d gone comparably silent listening to his fiance talk, watching his face the entire time and laughing when his hands flailed like the sight would disappear from him if he strayed.

If Robin were immature, he would’ve feigned gagging at that. As it was, though, everyone understood Ling’s feelings. And they were all pretty curious too.

So, you know… It was kind of too late when Robin finally remembered.

“OH, CRAP!”

Mt. Justice was clear in sight now, so his abrupt exclamation startled the team and Ed. Superboy, who’d been suspiciously silent and brooding in his corner, turned to raise an eyebrow at him.

“What?” he said, which still sounded a little like a demand, but that was okay. He’d gotten much better as of late at measuring his tone. This was improvement.

That unfortunately did nothing for their current dilemma.

“What do you mean ‘what?’” Robin said, totally calmly, thank you very much. “Aren’t we forgetting something major here, guys? Something giant and looming, maybe?!”

It took them all a second.

“Oh,” Ling said, then, way too cheerily, Robin was punching him, “oh! That’s right! Your—”

Megan gasped. “Oh my gosh. I completely forgot—!”

“BATMAN!” Wally cried like it was already his funeral—which it admittedly was. “Ohhhh, crap. Crap! We are so dead, guys—”

“What? Why are you dead?” Ed interrupted. His brow had been steadily furrowing since Robin’s initial panic, and he looked properly annoyed now. He directed the look at Ling, scowling. “Ling, what are they on about?”

“Batman, dude!” Wally reiterated. “He’s only our fricking boss and the scariest Leaguer to have glaring you down!” Ed raised an eyebrow, not getting it, and Wally groaned. “This was supposed to be a recon mission. Only a recon mission. And we completely ditched that to rescue you instead!”

Wally hadn’t meant it like that, but Ling still frowned. “This isn’t Ed’s fault. It was my purpose to begin with. If it’ll spare you the grief—”

“No,” Kaldur interrupted, dragging the focus to him. He sat up straighter. “I am the leader, and I approved this diversion myself. I could’ve controlled Ling, but I made the active decision not to. If this is anyone’s fault, it is mine. I will explain to Batman.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

It was Ed’s sharp interjection that shot first, taking them all aback.

“You couldn’t have stopped this idiot if you’d knocked him out and tossed him in a ditch without his sword,” he continued, and Ling nodded vehemently. “I couldn’t stop him on a good day, forget one of you guys.”

“That’s great and all,” Artemis said darkly, “but Batman won’t take that excuse so easily. Especially after our last mission…”

Robin grimaced at the reminder of Doctor Fate. He hadn’t been part of that mission himself, but, from what he’d heard, things hadn’t gone so smoothly. Wally had taken an unnecessary risk putting on the helmet, and Bruce—Batman was furious. For good reason, considering what that helmet did, and it had nearly gotten his best friend…

But, still.

Today hadn’t just been an unnecessary risk. It was a loud one. Those scientists were sure to bolster their efforts now, knowing the Young Justice were on their tails. This might’ve painted a greater target on Ed and Ling’s backs too.

Batman had every right to scold them for this.

Robin’s stomach twisted, and he swallowed.

The group was silent as Ship brought them inside. Ed didn’t voice his reactions like before as the path lights sparked in tandem to frame the hangar ahead.

Kaldur led them out with his back straight after landing.

Ed couldn’t quite muffle his noise that time as he disembarked last with Ling. He tossed a quick “thank you” to Ship, who beeped in affirmative delight, and ogled around the vast space with an echoing awe.

“This place is huge,” Ed gasped from the edge of the landing dock. His eyes drew high and low but ultimately lingered on the underwater entrance of the place. “What is this, exactly? There’s a generator and a pool…”

“This is the hangar,” Megan said, livening up a little at the opportunity to brag about her current home. Then, remembering last-second, “Oh, that’s a space where we park aircrafts and stuff. I guess you really don’t have that back in your world, huh?”

“Nope. What’s with the pool, then?”

“That’s for submarines. Those are—”

“Oh, you’ve got those here?” Ed’s eyes lit with understanding when he turned to her floating next to him. Catching her “manners” at that, Megan made a small noise and lowered to her feet. She was still laughably taller than Ed like this, and, oh, wow, now that Robin noticed it—

“Holy crap, wait,” Wally suddenly snickered next to Robin too, much worse at masking his amusement. “Dude, now that I’m looking at you—”

He cut off on a high yelp before Ed’s glare even reached him.

Ling pulled back his slanted hand from where he’d subtly jabbed Wally, striding over to Ed with a grin. “It is a fascinating space, isn’t it?”

Ed narrowed his eyes between the two of them before letting it go with a huff. “Yeah. I thought for a second that they might’ve developed air travel instead of ocean, like a parallel balance kind of thing… but I guess not.”

Ling started him down the stairs, and it didn’t escape Robin’s notice that Ed was leaning slightly into Ling’s side as he descended. Ling, for his part, didn’t say a word on that and kept a hand hovered low over Ed’s back.

So it wasn’t an injury, Robin mused as the rest of the team followed downward. Ling had made a pretty big deal earlier of checking Ed’s burn from the inhibitor collar under his turtleneck, and he’d completely ignored the team was watching when he wiped his fiance’s scratches tenderly before Ed had seen fit to remind him with a violent blush.

A bad leg, maybe? Or…

Megan took over leading them around the place again, slipping easily into the comfort of playing tour guide. When they reached the mission room, she quieted some, anxious as the rest of them.

The room was thankfully empty for now. Though, Robin would’ve preferred if they’d just rip off the Bandaid now. He hated the slithering feel of trepidation under his skin.

“And this… is the mission room,” Megan said with less pizzazz. “This is where Batman gives us our missions, and where we do our training with Black Canary! Although, I don’t see any of them here yet…”

“Yeah, thank god,” Wally muttered. “Give us a second to brace ourselves.”

Robin snorted. “You mean the thought of having your soul judged live doesn’t fill you with excitement? Fake, dude.”

“Says you, you little jerk. If anything, won’t you be scolded the wor—?”

“So, what was that about a training room?” Ed’s loud voice cut him off, though Robin couldn’t figure why he cared to keep things light. Batman was going to be disappointed one way or another. There was no avoiding that. “Seems a little barren for one, don’t you think?”

“Do you really have room to speak, darling?” Ling chuckled. “You were trained in a backyard, weren’t you?”

“A backyard?” Artemis said, and someone—Superboy, probably—snorted loudly in the back. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am!” Ling said. “Though, I’m leaving out the part where it was sometimes a butcher shop too.”

“Yeah, and you’re too scared to step foot in either of those places,” Ed shot back, crossing his arms. “Which reminds me. I contacted Teacher while you were gone—”

“Pardon?”

Several eyebrows shot up at Ling’s honest-to-god squeak.

Ed’s grin stretched slow and vicious. “Well, I needed help understanding the unknown transmutation circle that you touched. You know, considering it was an instantaneous reaction. And I had to be careful.”

Three strikes in one. Ouch.

Ling winced, recoiling slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “R-Right. Of course. And… what did she say, by any chance?”

“Oh, nothing! She just asked me to give you a little something.”

Nobody saw it coming when, in a split second, Ed shot out to grab Ling’s arm.

Ling didn’t even cry out before he was tossed completely over Ed’s shoulder. He met the ground with a belated yelp, then another when Ed stuck a boot on his chest and tightened his hold ruthlessly.

Robin cringed along with everyone else at the brutal angle.

“OW! Okay, okay, okay, I plead! Ed, I’m sorry—!”

“YOU BETTER FUCKING BE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SCARED SHITLESS I WAS BECAUSE OF YOUR STUNT?! I spent an entire week figuring out that damn circle! And then I had to come after your stupid ass myself, because of course you didn’t even have Mei around to supervise! Just what the hell were you thinking? Were you thinking at all?!”

“I already told you I wasn’t! Have mercy on me for once, you know I won’t do it again—!”

“DAMN RIGHT YOU WON’T! If you ever—!”

“What is the meaning of all this ruckus?”

A reverberating metallic voice from above interrupted the team’s badly muffled amusement, and Ling’s misery.

Ed looked up with them scowling, an irritated question on his tongue, “Who—?”

Megan exclaimed over him, darting forward, “AHHH, that’s Red Tornado! He’s our supervisor around here. Hi, Red Tornado!”

Red Tornado lowered from the center of the ceiling, and if androids could raise an eyebrow, then Robin was pretty sure his had disappeared far past his hairline. He paused on Ed to obviously scan him, and Ed didn’t even twitch under the scrutiny, holding steady on poor Ling.

“You are not a resident of this mountain,” Red Tornado said.

“Yeah, no shi—”

“But you carry the same energy as Ling Yao, and you are here with the team.” Ed’s mouth snapped shut, annoyed and put off by the very-much-an-android stopping before him. “Am I to assume you arrived with them the same way from their mission?”

“You are exactly right, Red Tornado,” Kaldur spoke up hastily, deflecting the attention to himself for now. “In fact, we were hoping to report our findings to Batman as soon as possible, so we may swap information. Do you know where he—?”

“I’m right here, Aqualad.”

Robin tensed at his mentor’s voice. He wasn’t shocked enough to spin to him like the rest of the team, but he did take a quick breath before facing him.

“I guess I don’t need to ask how it went,” Batman rumbled, emerging from the shadows of the next hallway over. “Considering what I’m looking at right now.”

Ed squared his shoulders in the corner of Robin’s vision, releasing Ling notably gently and—in a feat of audacity Robin had never witnessed in anyone before—scrutinized Batman right back.

He stopped dead at Batman’s eye, neither speaking first.

The atmosphere stretched distinctly like ozone, discomforting everyone as they stood still in place of anxious shuffling.

Finally, something breached the surface.

“Well, I don’t need to ask who you are,” Ed said blandly.

Batman’s frown didn’t twitch, but Robin had a feeling that wasn’t the best first impression Ed could’ve made on him. “I can’t say the same for you, unfortunately. Are you from Ling’s world?”

“Obviously. Are you the boss around here?”

“Obviously,” Batman returned, and stood taller, then. “How did you get here with the team? Who are you?”

“I came through a satanic circle.” Wally didn’t quite muffle his choked noise at the deadpan tone. Ed continued, “Shouldn’t you check on your troublemakers first before interrogating me like this? Seems like the greater priority right now.”

The words struck something in all of them, Robin thought—but himself most. He couldn’t stop his gaze from darting to meet Batman’s—no, Bruce’s, in time.

His heart skipped a beat long after the glance-over passed.

“The team knows how to handle themselves,” Batman’s voice returned to douse the mood. “It’s not surprising that they came back okay. It’s what they’ve been trained for. You’re the only hanging question currently.”

It was so messed up that Robin’s chest warmed at the indirect praise. A quick glance at his friends told him they shared his mixed feelings.

“You’ll really be disappointed, then,” Ed snorted. “Not much to me that I can answer. I got here through a circle, I broke myself out of the jail your team just so happened to be scouting, and I found my idiot fiance with them. I basically forced them to bring me along at that point.”

“That is so not what happened,” Wally whispered low in Robin’s ear, echoing the thought he hadn’t voiced. “What the hell is he—?”

“The team discovered you were being held captive and, due to your connection to Ling, deviated from the mission to rescue you.” Batman’s accurate conclusion overrode the conversation again.

He didn’t… sound overly disappointed, Robin didn’t think. Not moreso than usual. He wasn’t surprised, at least.

That was usually a good thing, in Robin’s experience. But still, this entire atmosphere was weirding him out. What was Ed doing?

He got his answer when Ed’s voice went steely, saying, “Actually, I was already planning on breaking out myself. It was lucky timing that they decided to help me, otherwise that fancy lab would’ve been rubble after I was done giving those scientists a piece of my mind. You should thank them, really.”

Robin’s eyes widened, understanding dawning on him at last.

He turned to Ling, who’d manifested as silently as ever at his and Wally’s side, and he’d already been looking at Robin.

Ling’s lips curled at a corner and he shrugged. Smiling: That’s how it is.

Bafflement struck everyone’s faces that’d peeked over.

This was actually happening, then. Ed was actually protecting them from Batman’s ire. Lifting the brunt of the judgment from their shoulders onto his own.

Forget audacious. This guy was outright crazy!

Robin’s startled grin at the realization threatened to break his mask before he put it away swiftly.

It nearly surfaced anyway when it looked like Batman was considering the defense.

He must’ve had a million demands in his mind; paranoia, however cruel at times, had served him, and Robin, and several other superheroes, extremely well. Paranoia was the reason Gotham was still deemed safe enough to live in. It was Bruce’s best kindness to their city, sometimes, and to the team whenever survival was up in the air. It meant he cared about the outcome and the consequences, especially on their team.

As it was, though, the only question he repeated was, “Who are you?”

There was no doubt he was an emperor’s partner when Ed lifted his chin with an imperial hum and said, “Edward Elric. I hope you don’t mind I’ll be staying here a while.”

Batman gave a vague affirmative that might’ve been amused elsewhere in a manor. “You’ll have to be thoroughly interrogated.”

“I’d be insulted if you didn’t plan on doing that.”

The spell broke seamlessly with those snorted out words, somehow, and Ling pulled a face as he stepped forward first. “Your idea of a compliment is still so skewed,” he said exasperatedly. “Would it kill you to accept passivity for once?”

“Maybe when I’m dead,” Ed humphed. He turned back to Batman. “So, we interrogating or what?”

Bruce’s lips quirked.

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#this sounds like crack but it very much isn't. in my heart.#if you leave me alone with reimagining the s1 episodes to edling long enough i'll deliver sufficient angst #just try me >:)#fullmetal alchemist #fma #young justice #edling #edward elric #ling yao #dick grayson #wally west #kaldur'ahm #m'gann m'orzz #bruce wayne #yj x fma #crossover #fanfiction #my fic

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