Chapter 1

[Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or Doctor Who. If you've read part one welcome back. If you haven't read part one, well you do you. A few things. I try to update three times a week, usually the same weekdays at that. I've accepted that I'm not a very good writer. You'll have to accept that too, or you could just, stop reading. And since this is back in Amestris, and the main enemy are the daleks, some cannon characters will die. Not too many, but it kind of had to happen. The daleks don't feel threatening enough in this fic as it is.]

Pride sat in a chair in the Bradley library, looking out the window. There wasn't much to see. Just the back yard. There was a forest if you looked back far enough.

Mrs. Bradley sat in a different chair, going through today's crossword puzzle, from the newspaper.

"Gourmet gastropod?" Mrs. Bradley said out loud, confusion in her voice.

She tapped her pencil against the paper, and sounded a bit like she was talking to herself, but Pride knew better. She wasn't about to ignore him when he was right there. She was giving him an opening to answer.

"Escargot," he answered with a sigh.

"Thank you Selim." Mrs. Bradley filled in the answer, but by the time she'd finished, her smile had faded, and she turned to him in concern. "Are you okay?"

Oh. She'd noticed. He shrugged. "I guess I'm just tired."

Mrs. Bradley frowned. "Are you getting sick? You can get some rest if you like. I'll let you know if the Doctor comes by."

And there it was. The Doctor was what his former tutor went by. When he'd found out she was an alien, he'd convinced her to take him along. It had been great. He'd left not only Amestris, but the whole planet. He didn't have to worry about acting in front of aliens he'd never see again. There had been some life threatening situations, but at least it was never boring.

It hadn't lasted. A few days ago, the Doctor had found out who he really was, and sent him home. Mrs. Bradley didn't know yet. He hadn't specified why he'd come back, and she seemed to think it was a temporary thing. Well, it wasn't. And there was no point lying about that either.

"She's not coming back," Pride said quietly.

"What happened?"

He'd been very upset when she'd kicked him out. But that was days ago. He wasn't going to overreact to it now. If anything he was annoyed. She'd forced him to come back for no reason.

"I didn't do anything wrong," he said, because he was sure that was an obvious conclusion. "But, she did find out I remember. She sent me back."

Technically he'd never forgotten, so saying he remembered was a little odd, but it was the an easy enough explanation to understand.

"Oh Selim. I wish you'd told me sooner. You don't think she'll tell-"

"No, she hasn't told anyone," Pride said. If she had told anyone, at least anyone from Amestris, they would've noticed. "She's not from Amestris, remember? She probably just went home and kept it to herself."

Mrs. Bradley no longer seemed so worried, but she didn't look completely convinced either.

"I can't say I like it."

"Neither do I," Pride agreed.

Mrs. Bradley sighed. "I suppose there's nothing we can do now though. The good news is, no one knows you don't have a tutor."

Pride caught the unsaid meaning in that sentence.

"You mean I don't have to get a new one?"

"I see no reason to," Mrs. Bradley said. "Not while it's not noticeable. It was just to keep appearances up."

That much was true. Pride didn't need any schooling and Mrs. Bradly knew it.

"Thank you Mother!"

That might've come out more like a real kid than he usually liked, but there was sincerity to it. The Doctor was the only tutor he'd found interesting, and there was no chance of getting anyone else like her.

Mrs. Bradley smiled. "You're welcome dear. Now, do you know what high cards means?"

Ling sat at his desk, well technically one of many desks. He'd just finished signing a form when he heard footsteps behind him. Only Lan Fan was guarding him, out of sight, but her skill hadn't diminished over the years. If someone was coming, they weren't a threat.

"Hey there your Emperorship. I've got more work for you."

Ling turned around to see his oldest adopted son, carrying more papers. Sometimes he was pretty sure the assassination attempts were better.

"Thank you Cheng," he said dryly. "What would I do without you?"

"Send your bodyguards to get paperwork."

Cheng set the paperwork down.

After being a homunculus for months, Ling could no longer have biological heirs. And he was actually sort of relieved about that. He didn't want to keep the battle between clan heirs going, and the fact he couldn't produce said heirs was rather convenient. He'd already faced enough opposition for smaller changes.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of children in Xing with no place to live, and it was easy enough to adopt when you were the emperor. Cheng was officially his oldest, but since there was only a nine-year age gap between them, Cheng never thought of Ling as his father. The feeling was mutual.

Ling looked at his paperwork. He considered blowing it off. He probably could. One day's delay wouldn't make a noticeable difference.

"If you do them today, you have all of tomorrow free," Cheng pointed out, leaning on the desk.

Ling thought about it for a moment. Hiding his reaction, he just nodded. "You're right."

"Of course, I am."

"You give good advice."

"Of course, I do?" Cheng suddenly sounded less certain.

Ling smiled. "So, since you're so helpful, why don't you stick around for paperwork?"

Cheng humphed. "It's not like I could actually refuse," he pointed out, sitting down. "You just wanted to mess with me."

"What am I for?"

"Ruling the country, last I checked."

There was a scream downstairs. Ed bolted from his chair, where he'd been steadily falling asleep, and ran down.

"Winry!" he called out. "Winry, what's wrong? I-"

He stopped, coming out into the main room. There was a man on the couch, metal leg extended up on the table. And Winry was looking at it, stars in her eyes.

"That automail is amazing," She said, bouncing around to get a better look at it.

Ed slumped, leaning against the door frame. He should've known, should've been able to tell the difference between a danger scream and an excited one.

Another man came up beside Ed. He had dark skin, black hair, and golden eyes. That had shocked Ed when they first met, and the two had been worried about each other for a bit, but it turned out that was for nothing. Philip was a relatively ordinary man. He didn't even practice alchemy. It was just that Xerxes hadn't been a perfectly round country, and all the citizens hadn't been inside the transmutation circle when they were sacrificed. Genes from the few survivors still surfaced sometimes. Ed and Philip mostly talked Xerxes, rather than alchemy, and he always welcomed Ed and his family into his home when they were in Creta.

"Your wife is something," Philip commented.

Ed grinned. "She sure is. Now who's that guy?"

"The guy I always lose to in pool," Philip said. "His automail is breaking down and his mechanic is out of town. I actually thought Winry could help. If that's alright?"

"Oh she'll love to," Ed said. "But I hope you're ready for more of this."

There was the sound of much smaller footsteps on the stairs behind them.

"Dad? Dad what's-?"

The voice of his oldest son stopped as he looked between the two adults, and saw Winry working on the automail.

"That's so cool! Why didn't you tell me Mom was working? I want to help."

"I didn't know," Ed answered honestly. He smiled and gestured for his son to pass him. "But we both know now. Go on and join her."