Chapter Title: Practically Kidnapped
Characters: Scar, Al, Ed
Pairings: None! I can't write romance for the life of me!
Spoilers: Nope
Warnings: Cursing
Disclaimer: I don't own it! Waaaaah!
A/N: Before you read this, let it be known that it was all Scar-san's idea. I am not a sadist!
Scar: It's true. I take the blame for this story.
Envy: -rolls eyes- Masochist.
Quiet, Envy. Anywho, this story, like my others, doesn't fit into the canon timeline at all. It takes place after the Marco thing, yet before the 1st Library Branch burns down (in other words, we're dealing with Trenchcoat!Scar here). Like I said, it doesn't fit. But I don't care. Scar-san said that he wouldn't leave me alone about it until I'd written and posted it. And now, without further blathering on my part, let the story commence!

Scar walked calmly through the streets of Central, the overcast sky and slight drizzle perfectly complementing his mood. The weather had been like this for three days, and the entire city seemed subdued. There hadn't been as many people out on the streets, the general population preferring to stay inside out of the drizzle and occasional cold winds, but not even the terrible weather could keep at least some people from going about their usual business. Namely Scar, although as he didn't have any real shelter from the elements he didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. In short, he had been outside in the cold and wet for three days straight. He had assumed that he would be perfectly fine; he was strong, and it was only a little rain. And this had been the case…for the first day. On the second, he had begun feeling a bit lightheaded, and then he had been seen and chased by the military; he had gone into the sewers to escape. Needless to say, this is not the best place for someone with a weakened immune system to be going into.

Now, it was the third day. He had successfully escaped the military, but hadn't slept the previous night in order to keep watch and make sure that he stayed escaped. When he began to move again, he noticed that he was shivering uncontrollably; he had pulled his trenchcoat closer around him in an attempt to stop the shivering, but as it was by then completely soaked, it didn't help at all. Later, he was leaning against a brick wall in a darker alley, resting, when he heard a familiar clanking walk, and soon saw Alphonse Elric walking past the entrance to the alley. He didn't see Ed, so decided to stay hidden, but was foiled in his attempt when a series of loud, racking coughs erupted from his throat.

"Hello? Is there someone in there?" Al peered into the alley, and when he saw who it was took a step backwards in surprise, "You!"

"Stay away, I'm…" Scar swayed unsteadily on his feet as he was assailed by an abrupt wave of dizziness, "…I'm warning…warning…" his vision blurred and he dropped to his knees, "…you…" his pupils contracted as a sharp, lancing pain traveled through his chest, and his stomach emptied itself of what little he had eaten that day. His muscles were suddenly too weak to support him, and he fell the rest of the way onto the ground, blacking out within seconds.

Scar came to slowly, and soon wished that he hadn't. His head was throbbing, and the pain in his stomach hadn't lessened in the slightest. He was still dizzy and shivering, and now his throat was sore, and his breathing raspy. He seemed to be in a sitting position, and surrounded by something cold and hard and very uncomfortable; by the jostling and noise around him, he also deducted that he was on a train. Blearily he opened his eyes to find himself in almost total darkness, with only a few rays of light coming in…wait, coming in?

"Hey, Al, you've been pretty quiet and still for the whole ride. You okay?" a voice came from somewhere close.

"I'm fine, niisan. Just thinking," this voice echoed all around him.

With a cold jolt, Scar realized exactly where he was, 'No…no…oh Ishbala, no…' He was…he was inside Alphonse Elric! He was suddenly terrified; he felt like screaming and thrashing, but his muscles wouldn't respond, and his shout came past his dry, cracked lips as no more than a hoarse whisper. He tried to use his right arm, but found that in his current state of illness, he was unable to concentrate enough for it to work. He didn't know where he was, didn't know where he was being taken, and was utterly helpless to do anything; he was practically being kidnapped. His breathing and heartbeat became erratic, frantic, and he closed his eyes tightly, willing it to be some kind of terrible dream, 'No, no, I want out! Let me out! Someone, anyone…please…'

Ed and Al were taking an involuntary vacation to Rizembool. Mustang was the one who'd arranged it, his reason being that the pair had been under far too much stress and they were going whether they wanted to or not. Ed had sulked, but eventually agreed. He had been getting the train tickets while Al packed and carried the suitcase. It was on his way to the station that Al had passed the small alley which had turned out to contain a very ill Scar. After the poor Ishbalan had collapsed, Al, being the insanely nice person that he was, had felt incredibly sympathetic. After duly noting that in his current state Scar wasn't really a threat, Al made the decision that he couldn't just leave such a sick person out in this weather to probably die. But he knew that Ed wouldn't agree, so Al decided to hide Scar inside his armor and bring him to Rizembool with them.

It was odd, knowing that there was a person inside of him, and he made sure to walk extra carefully the rest of the way to the station, trying not to wake Scar up. The train was only about half an hour from Rizembool when Al heard Scar shift slightly inside of him, and heard a hoarse shout that was more like a whisper. Fortunately Ed didn't notice, and after a few minutes of not being exploded from the inside, Al realized with relief that for one reason or another Scar couldn't use his arm. But even if that danger had passed, another was following right after; Scar was certainly very, very ill, possibly delusional, and didn't know what was going on. He was likely to begin panicking, if he hadn't already, and make a good deal of noise. Not that Al could blame him; anyone would panic if placed in Scar's present situation, but Al didn't want his brother to find out about Scar just yet.

"Niisan, I'm going to stand outside for a bit, all right?" he spoke quietly.

Ed looked curious, but let it go, "Sure, if you want. We're almost there, aren't we, though?"

"Yeah, but I just feel like standing up for a while," Al nodded before realizing with a bit of chagrin that he had probably just banged Scar's head. He stood up more carefully and began to walk down the aisle, noting with grim humor that, judging by the way his legs seemed to be actively resisting the movement of walking, Scar was definitely awake. But fortunately, Scar's opposition wasn't strong enough to cause any obvious lag or stiffness in Al's movement, and he made it to the outside connector platform without anyone noticing anything out of the ordinary.

Now that there was nobody around, Al could begin the difficult task of calming Scar down, explaining to him what was going on, and most importantly, getting him to cooperate.

A/N: Yeah, so Scar-san is rather OOC…but, really, he's sick! Give the poor guy a break. I mean, the last time he saw the Elrics, he was trying to kill Ed, and now he's thinking that he's at the mercy of a State Alchemist, and he doesn't know what's going to happen to him. And he's really, really sick, so he's not exactly in his right mind. Wouldn't you be pretty scared if you were in a situation like that?
Scar: So nobody go around calling me a wimp in their reviews.
Darn right. Scar-san is anything BUT wimpy.
Envy: Readers, I wouldn't anger her if I were you. She'll sic her spoats on you.
That's right, Envy! I have obtained a cage full of loyal spider-goat chimeras that obey my every command without question! Muhahahahahahaha!
Scar: -sigh- Ieva, you're going to scare all the reviewers away…
Muhahahahahahahahahaha!
Scar: Hey, readers, ignore her. Reviews are our life force. We like them.