Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist.

Time Slip

Chapter 3

After a several minutes of reassurance from Alphonse that they weren't going to hurt him, Daniel had calmed down quite a bit, and wasn't nearly so frightened now that he wasn't entirely alone in this strange place. Now he had Al, and Al made him feel safe, although he didn't quite know why. Ed…he wasn't so sure about Ed yet.

"Where am I?" he finally got the courage to ask.

Al replied kindly, "You're in Central city, in Amestris."

"A-mes-tris?" Daniel sounded out the strange word, "That's the country next to Ishbal, right? The one that uses the forbidden art…" he began to look nervous again. If he was in Amestris, that would explain why all the people in the streets had been so pale, with their oddly colored hair and eyes. But…that was such a long way from home…from anything he'd ever known…homesickness washed through him, and he turned his eyes to the ground, hugging his knees to his chest, "I want to go home," he raised his eyes to look at Al with an innocent expression, "How long would it take to get home from here?"

"Ummm…" Al didn't quite have the heart to tell Daniel that Ishbal had been destroyed many years ago, "A very long time…it's hundreds and hundreds of miles away," at Daniel's crestfallen expression, Al continued hurriedly, "But maybe we could help you get back to your proper body and get you home that way!"

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Ed spoke for the first time since Daniel's outburst, "Al, we don't even know what happened to him in the first place! How do you know he didn't just hit his head and get amnesia or regress or something?"

"I don't have amnesia, I remember everything fine," Daniel retorted, "I tripped and hit my head in Ishbal, and woke up here."

"See, niisan? That doesn't sound like amnesia or regression. Maybe…maybe Scar-san hit his head too and…"

Ed interrupted, shaking his head, "Al, that's ridiculous. That kind of stuff only happens in books, not in real life."

"But it makes sense, niisan!"

Daniel followed their argument back and forth, not quite understanding what it was they were talking about. It was complicated, whatever it was, and it made his head spin, so he instead focused his attention on something else. Ed's braid in particular. He'd never seen anything like it, with its golden color; it almost didn't look real. He didn't even realize that the argument had stopped until Ed's voice broke his concentration.

"What are you staring at?"

"Can I…" Daniel gathered his courage, still staring in complete fascination at the braid, "Can I touch your hair?"

Scar sat in 'his' room, staring up at the ceiling. In retrospect, considering how he'd reacted just to seeing his brother, maybe it hadn't been that good of an idea to go outside. He'd only been able to stand it for about fifteen minutes before he'd had to come back inside and hide in his room. He'd seen the streets full of happy, lively people, but in his mind's eye he'd simultaneously seen those same streets destroyed and in flames. The memories…it had been too much, he hadn't been able to take it. He wondered why he'd been brought here. What was he supposed to do? He wanted to change something, wanted to make it so that she didn't die and drive his brother into madness, wanted to stop the war from ever happening…but he couldn't. He couldn't change what had already happened, all his instincts told him that it was wrong. But, oh, he wanted to, wanted to more than anything. He buried his hand in his hair, fighting against the temptation; he shouldn't be here, he knew he shouldn't be here…

"Daniel?" his brother's voice was accompanied by a soft knocking on the door, "Are you feeling all right?"

"I…" Scar didn't know what to say. He wasn't feeling all right, but telling his brother that the reason for this was that he was from the future and was having difficulty coping with an overload of painful memories would very likely cause his brother to think that he had gone crazy. He realized that he couldn't change the past…but he would not allow this second chance to speak with his brother go to waste; he knew that it wouldn't last forever, and that it wouldn't happen again. So he raised his head and walked to the door, "I'm fine, niisan."

If anyone had told Edward Elric that he would one day be allowing Scar to play with his hair, he would have laughed at them long and hard, and then possibly have them committed to a mental asylum. He was still having some trouble with the concept, 'It isn't really Scar…it's just a little kid…in Scar's body…who will one day grow up to be Scar…but it isn't really Scar…Scar is not touching my head…'

"So, what are we going to do now?" he spoke through slightly clenched teeth, trying his very best to ignore the small tugs on his braid. He had been taken by surprise by the boy's strange request, and before he could answer, Al had agreed for him. He hadn't bothered protesting, since he knew it wouldn't do any good, but he had made it very clear that Daniel was only allowed to use his left hand.

"I'm not sure, niisan…but we have to at least stay with him!" Al's tone was similar to the one he used whenever he found stray kittens and begged to be allowed to keep them.

But this was a bit bigger than just a stray kitten. This was a small child in the body of a wanted serial killer. If the military found him, they would shoot first and ask questions later, and Ed couldn't let that happen; although he was technically Scar, this boy was innocent. He sighed, "All right, I guess we can take care of him, and find out how to fix…whatever this is. Daniel, tell us in detail what happened. And stop playing with my hair."

Daniel dropped the hair, looking a little bit guilty for a second before beginning his story, "I was walking around, and when I went to go back home I tripped and hit my head on a wall. When I woke up it was really cold and my head hurt a lot, and I was underneath a bunch of big metal things full of trash. I sat up and looked at my reflection in a puddle and I wasn't me anymore, I was this person, and I looked out in the street but everyone had weird colored hair and eyes so I hid in this alley and then you chased me."

"Your head hurt when you woke up?" Ed questioned further.

Daniel nodded, "Yeah, a lot, and it still does. In the back, right here," he turned to show the back of his head, pointing at a large bump that was located there.

"Hmmm…" Ed looked at the bump for a few seconds before shrugging, "The theory still sounds ridiculous…but either this is the weirdest case of amnesia in the history of forever, or you were right, Al."

Al nodded, "I told you. But if it's true, we need to fix this. They both need to be in their proper bodies in their proper times, or who knows what could happen. What can we do?"

"I don't know, Al," Ed ran his fingers back through his hair distractedly, looking at Daniel, "I just don't know."

A/N: Sorry this took so long! Writer's block and schoolwork don't mix too well…-sigh- Anyway, this chapter focused more on Daniel than Scar, because I don't have too many ideas for what's happening over on Scar's end. -sweatdrop- Anybody got ideas, 'cause I feel kinda bad neglecting Scar-san…and as always, I appreciate all your reviews! They brighten my day. :)