"Nina!" Ed called out desperately for the small girl he had grown so attached to as he ran through the deserted streets. She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't.

"Brother, wait for me!" Alphonse pleaded as he tried to keep up with his older brother, who didn't seem to hear him, or anything else for that matter. It was true, though. The only thing Ed could hear at that moment was his own heart pounding away in his chest, along with Nina's voice.

"Big brother Ed!"

Ed squeezed his eyes shut, choking back a sob as he ran through the streets. He didn't want to believe it. He refused to believe it, that Nina was as dead as Mr Tucker was.

Eventually, he had to stop his mad search through the city once it started raining heavily, the pain in his automail ports becoming unbearable.

Collapsing besides a large clock that resembled a grandfather's clock that stood tall and proud at the park, he screamed out in pure anguish into the heavens, believing that the world just took away an innocent little girl who had no fault.

He would make the person responsible suffer. He'd make them pay.

"NINA!"

LINE BREAK

Somewhere underneath the city, in the sewers, -older- Ed sneezed violently.

"Jeez, not again!" He complained to himself, rubbing his nose but not before making sure Nina wouldn't fall off his back. The poor girl was all tuckered out -no pun intended-, so Ed offered to give her a ride.

Needless to say, she accepted with a large smile on her face, thinking she was going to play horsey with her big brother.

"Man, this place stinks. Literally." Ed grumbled as he kept an eye out for a manhole or something that would lead out of the worst place to be in, because he was really sure that by the time this whole mess ended, his nose wouldn't be able to smell anything but the sewer.

That... Wasn't a pretty thought at all.

And he really needed a shower. He hadn't showered for almost a week.

Granted, he had gone longer without a shower during his assignments, but that didn't necessarily mean that he had liked it.

Nope, it was quite the opposite. And besides, his automail was probably going to rust with all the gunk stuck in it. Well, if it didn't break down first. And even though Winry did exist here, he couldn't just waltz up to her and say, "Hey! My automail which just so happens to look like the one you made for Edward -him- with the exact same mechanisms has broken down! Could you help me with this?"

Yeah, because that would go soooo well, and pigs will fly.

Not to mention that he looked like Edward Elric, since he was, well, Edward Elric. Granted, he was at least a year older, but that was besides the point. Being taller, on the other hand...

Just then, Edward spotted something which could have been a blessing from heaven. A manhole.

"Yes! Jackpot!" He cheered childishly, fistpumping the air, before scurrying over to the ladder, grasping the rungs like it was a lifesaver, despite the fact it was covered in some sort of strange, slimy, green mold. Well, Ed could just get rid of the green mold that stained his gloves with just a snap of his fingers. Well, a clap of his hands actually, but again, that was besides the point. Plus, he was the god damn Fullmetal Alchemist. Something as minuscule as mold wouldn't defeat him, no matter how disgusting it was.

But, that still didn't stop him from cringing each time as his hands made contact with a mold infested ladder rung.

Which was why Ed wasted no time in climbing the ladder before he kicked open the manhole, breathing in his first breath of fresh air since three hours ago. Ed shuddered, not bothering concealing it. Right, that was definately the last time he'd be paying any vists to the sewer.

Serial killer trying to murder him or no, he was never, ever, going back into that dark, damp, smelly, excuse of a sewer. Going back in there was definately not worth it.

"Ok, now that I'm out, what now?" Ed mumbled to himself as he transmuted the stupid mold off his gloves, making sure Nina wasn't about to fall off his back, which also reminded him of something he needed to do.

"Oh, right. Nina." Ed cast a glance at the sleeping girl, his eyes softening. He needed to get her somewhere safe, with someone he knows he can trust. And it just so happened that Mr Hughes was staying nearby at the Military dorms while he was working on the murders of State Alchemists since Scar was the one who had committed them.

Huh... Now that Ed actually gave Scar some thought... Didn't Scar target him while he was still in shock from Nina's death? The other timeline Nina, at least. The Ed of this timeline wouldn't be suffering from Nina's death since she wasn't actually dead, so he wouldn't be too out of it, right?

But then again, when had Ed, both of them, ever been right in that sense?

Answer? Never, except for one or two rare moments.

Sparing Nina one last glance, Ed trudged to the military dorms. "Don't worry Nina. You'll be safe with Mr Hughes. Unlike Mr Tucker."

LINE BREAK

It had been a very bad day for Hughes. One State Alchemist dead, a little girl missing, and a serial killer still at large. Also, he had to leave Central to work on this case, which meant he couldn't be at home with his beautiful wife and little angel. Oh, that just hurt him, seeing as how he had to spend time away from them.

However, his thoughts somehow managed to drift towards the small girl named Nina Tucker. She was just a year older than his angel Elicia, and yet her father was dead, with the high probability of her being in the same condition. Dead as a door nail.

And that thought alone was enough to frighten Hughes. If something like this could happen to someone else, it might just happen to his darling wife and daughter too! No!

While he fretted over the horrible mental imagery created by the fears of his mind, he didn't notice the whispers just outside of his door, until a loud knock resounded through the room, startling it's sole occupant.

"Who is it?" Hughes called out, adjusting his glasses which had been knocked askew during his initial shock, only to be greeted with silence.

He frowned deeply. Something wasn't right here, but what?

Drawing out one of his signature blades, he held it at ready as he cautiously unlocked his room door. Whoever it was out there, he sincerely hoped that it wasn't an enemy, but even that was unlikely, right? This was a military dorm, after all. So what were the chances that whoever it was outside, was a hostile attacker? Very slim, but military academy had taught him to be cautious no matter what.

As his door swung open, his eyes widened in shock as his eyes met a much shorter familiar figure's large eyes.

"Mr Hughes!" Nina smiled brightly. "Big brother showed me where to find you!"

Beside Nina was a somewhat average sized person of about 165 centimeters tall, and was clearly male. However, Hughes wasn't able to get a good look at him because of the hood that shadowed the upper part of his face. But still, whoever it was, he was clearly not even in his twenties!

"Could you take care of her for me?" A young male voice cut into Hughes's thoughts. "I can't take care of her since I've got something to do."

Hughes, who was obviously still getting over his shock, numbly nodded his consent, and in return, the stranger grinned. "Thank you!"

There was something familiar about this boy, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Something about his voice...

Then it suddenly clicked who is voice reminded him of.

"Ed." Hughes whispered to himself, but the stranger heard him, flinching slightly, something which Hughes didn't miss. "Huh?!"

"You remind me of someone I know." Hughes finally let one question he had been dying to ask out. "Where did you find Nina? Everyone who knows her has been worried sick!"

"At her house. Before the whole incident." Hughes felt his jaw drop open slightly. Doesn't that mean that whoever this person was, he was the one who took Nina?! For what reason?! He felt himself tense slightly.

"Eh, don't worry. I got her away since that bastard of her father was planning on experimenting on her, which would have turned her into a chimera."

It took Hughes a total of five seconds to register what the boy said.

"What?!"

"Calm down, it's not like it's going to happen to her now. I'd explain to you, but I've already done what I came here to do." He reassured Hughes as said person looked like he was about to get a heart attack.

The boy turned away, and started walking back to where he came from, before he stopped dead in his tracks and turned back around. "I almost forgot! Regarding that serial killer, are you sure you should be letting Fullmetal wander the city?"

Wait, who are you?" Hughes asked suddenly, while the newly received information was still being processed in his head, which was going at a snail's speed. The boy grinned. "You'll see, Mr Hughes. In fact, you already know who I am. You just have to think."

Walking back down the hallway, he suddenly yelled, "Say hi to Elicia for me!"

Hughes blinked in surprise. Wha-?! How did he know what his little angel's name was?!

Just then, everything finished processing in his brain, and Hughes paled drastically. Oh crap...

With Nina following closely behind, Hughes frantically rushed down to the military line in the building, dialing Mustang's number at East City headquarters at what could only be described as ludicrous speed.

"Hughes, if it's about your daughter...!" Mustang began irritably from his side, eye twitching violently.

"No, where's Edward?!"

"What, Fullmetal? He's somewhere in the city. Why?"

"Roy, have you forgotten about the serial killer?! The one who kills State Alchemists?!"

There was a pause, before Mustang finally said, "Oh no..."

Mustang had forgotten after all.

LINE BREAK

Edward stared at the cold stone floor numbly, feeling the rain on him. He didn't care if he was wet. Hell, he didn't even care if ports hurt. He just wanted to know what happened to Nina, clinging to the hope that she might still be alive.

"Brother... Do you think Nina is ok?" Alphonse asked, a tinge of sadness lacing his tone. Al had been just as affected as his older brother was, only he could hide his feelings better because armour can't show emotions. However Ed, being flesh and blood, couldn't help the onslaught of feelings that assaulted him, and threatened to spill out. But he couldn't cry. How could he, if his brother couldn't? It wasn't fair.

"Yeah... Nina is safe..." Before adding in a much quieter voice, "She has to be..."

"The Fullmetal Alchemist... Edward Elric." An unfamiliar voice cut into Ed's thoughts.

Ed tilted his head upwards, to give acknowledgement, when Al suddenly screamed. "Brother!"

Ed gasped as Al pulled him to the side, narrowly dodging a hand that would have caused his untimely demise. Talk about close calls, because this was no doubt one of them.

Clapping his hands together, he pictured the needed transmutation circle in his head before slamming his palms to the ground, watching Alchemical light spark as Ed transmuted a box to encase his attacker.

"What the-?!" Ed barely got two words out before his transmutation was blown apart, a large hole decorating it's side.

Ed's eyes widened with fear as he felt the killing intent radiate off the man in waves. Pure terror gripped his heart as adredeline pumped through his veins. This is bad! Very bad! He's going to kill me! I can't die yet! Not until...!

"Run for it, Al!"

The two brothers dashed away in an attempt to run, only for the man to follow them, hot on their heels. "You won't get away again!"

"What's this guy's problem?!" Ed yelled above the wind as he ran down the street like he never ran before. "I haven't done anything to make enemies!"

"But brother..."

There was a pause, before Ed sheepishly ducked his head with an embarrassed flush coloring his face as he corrected himself. For a fifteen year old, he sure did know how to make enemies. "Scratch that, I've done a lot, and I've never really avoided it. But I haven't done anything for someone to want to kill me!"

Ed and Al screamed as the floor deconstructed, which sent both brothers flying, but fortunately, they were able to regain their balance, continuing their mad running down the streets.

"Brother, this way!"

Turning his head to see Al in an alleyway, Ed hurried over, but not before hissing frantically, "Al, he saw us go in here!"

"Don't worry brother."

Placing his hands on a pre-drawn transmutation circle, Alphonse activated it, a wall rising up from the ground. "Hey, good thinking! Now he can't get us-!" The wall was blown apart, the stray shrapnel scratching at a shocked Ed's face and Al's armour.

"... Or maybe not." Ed finished weakly, before both of them turned and bolted, screaming like little girls all the way. Well, at least until the walls of the alley was deconstructed, which crumbled down, with rubble obscuring their path.

"Damn it!" Ed coughed, trying to clear the dust, before he looked up and glared at the scar faced man. "Who are you, and why are you after us?!" Ed could think of several reasons, but none of them were severe enough to incur the man's killing intent.

"I've told you before, Fullmetal Alchemist. Where there are creators, there are also destroyers. And you, Fullmetal Alchemist, shall recieve judgement!"

"Look like we don't have a choice, Al." Edward clapped his hands, grabbing a stray pipe from the rubble and transmuted it into a sword. But there was something the scar faced man had said that Ed found extremely confusing. He kept talking as if they had met, and fought before! Had Ed really fought him before? Because Ed was fairly certain he would have remembered homicidal person like him.

Making sure he had a good grip on his sword, he dashed at his attacker, sword held ready as Al had his fists ready.

"You've got guts. However..."

The man dodged both attacks easily, catching them off guard. "Too slow!"

Al, who had been so unforetunate as to have been the closest to the man's right hand, couldn't recover in time to dodge the hand, the side of his armour exploding into pieces.

Ed's horrified eyes widened as he watched pieces of his his little brother's armour soar through the air, landing on the ground noisily. "ALPHONSE!"

LINE BREAK

Meanwhile, no less then twenty meters away, stood Ed's older self. He had been mentally debating with himself on whether or not he should intervene in that battle between Scar and his younger self, who was obviously out of it, just like he was when he was attacked like this a year and a half ago.

He had been perfectly content with just standing by, until things took a turn slightly differently from how it had been for him. Reason number two, why he hated time traveling. Number one was having to constantly hide when 'subtle' was clearly not his middle name.

Ok, maybe the turn wasn't that small at all. It was just that, the last time Ed checked, the military was still five minutes away, and the fight between his younger self and Scar was already reaching it's climax.

By that, meaning his arm was about to get shattered into a million pieces. That didn't bode well, since once Ed's arm was gone, he had pretty much given up, making Scar promise not to lay a finger on Al in exchange for his death. Ed groaned loudly, realization settling in.

He actually would have died, if it wasn't for Mustang and the military's timely arrival. Then again, he was completely useless, and the worst part was that the Colonel had forgotten about his weakness in the rain, only being saved by Hawkeye's quick reflexes.

Honestly, the Colonel really could be an idiot.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, he looked back at the fight just in time to see his younger self's arm blown to pieces. Ed winced, reaching up and gingerly touching his head at the area where a wrench would usually collide with his skull. He really couldn't help but feel sorry for himself when his younger self would return to Resembool, only to end up on the receiving end of Winry's wrath. The consolation was that he wasn't the one on the receiving end.

Ed shuddered violently. Winry could be as scary as his teacher if she needed to be!

Ed watched the similar events to his own timeline play out, a small frown tugging on his lips. Aw man... So in this timeline, the military wouldn't make it in time to save him? That sucked.

Deciding that he had enough of playing the bystander, Ed clapped his hands together, slamming them into the ground, blue Alchemical light crackling as he transmuted a stone fist out of the ground with the intent on having it slam into Scar.

However, said person jumped out of the way before the stone fist made contact, his head turning sharply at the source of the transmutation, only to see a hooded teenager. "Stay out of my way or I shall eliminate you." Scar growled.

"Sorry, no can do." Ed said flatly as he stood up, dusting his gloved hands off.

"You're-!" Ed heard Al say, but he just blocked off the rest of Alphonse's sentence.

"I was perfectly content with letting things proceed the way it should here, but the military decided to be slow bastards instead, so here I am." Ed crossed his arms in a deceptive manner, in which the position would allow him to appear relaxed, while in truth he could pull off a transmutation quickly if the need be so.

While he was unlucky, the clap Alchemy really proved useful at times.

"Then I shall eminate you." Stepping over the prone body of Ed's younger self, Scar advanced on Ed menacingly.

A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. Scar was easily one of the most dangerous people he had ever fought in his entire military career. Most of the idiots he usually had to deal with could barely fight, let alone land a scratch on him. And the rouge alchemists who he hunted down occasionally, while they could land a hit or two with alchemy, Ed still managed to take them down eventually.

And no, he never actually managed to take down Scar. That one time in Briggs didn't count, so technically, he never beat Scar once.

... Yeah, he was probably going to die. His only regret was that he never did tell Winry that he wrecked her automail again. On second thoughts, maybe that wasn't so bad. At least he would die without a migraine.

Clapping his hands together, he placed them on the floor before he transmuted his cool -gaudy- spear out from the ground, giving it a swing to get a good feel of the weapon before pointing it at Scar.

Ed heard Al gasp faintly in the background. Even his younger self, who had pushed himself up into a sitting position, gaped at him and his lack of transmutation circles. So much for not drawing attention to himself.

Charging at Scar may not have been one of Ed's brightest ideas -it actually ranked somewhere at rock bottom-, but it sure was effective. Ed had run at Scar, brandishing his spear, and when Scar thrust out his right hand, Ed had waited until the very last moment to dodge, sidestepping from Scar's attack and pretty much just tripped him.

He knew it was good idea to keep his Northern Automail instead of the regular heavy ones that stunted his gro-! No! He was not short! Bad brain!

Ignoring Ed's mental beating, Scar regained his balance and scrutinized the hooded teen through narrowed eyes. That boy... Who was he? Scar knew that something was off about him, but he just didn't know what. However, Scar pushed theses thoughts to the back of his head. He needed to stay focused.

But, luckily for both Eds and perhaps unforetunately for Scar, a warning shot was fired, signaling the arrival of the military, startling all of them."That's enough, Scar." Mustang announced, lowering his gun with a grim expression across his face. "I'm taking you in for the murder of more than ten State Alchemists."

Older Ed quite frankly couldn't be bothered hang around any longer by this point, seeing as how he wasn't needed there for any reason at all since everything was the military's problem, not his.

But he did stick around long enough to watch Mustang's humiliation at bring unable to use his Flame Alchemy, so whatever fight he had fought with Scar previously was completely worth it, just to see Hawkeye trip the Colonel. Too bad he was too traumatized during the first time to enjoy it.

Quietly slipping away from the scene before anyone noticed him taking his leave, Ed sighed. Well, time to head to the First Branch Library in Central to hunt down Doctor Marco's research notes on the Philosopher's Stone.

Too bad it was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack, judging by the sheer size of the library. Giving one more dramatic sigh, Ed just knew he was going to be in for a looong week.

LINE BREAK

"A mysterious person, who seems to know something we don't?" Mustang raised an eyebrow at the blonde Alchemist seated in his office. Currently, Mustang's team and Armstrong were crowding Mustang's already cramped office. Too bad it was going to get a lot more cramped when Hughes arrived.

"Yeah. He told me to beware beings who bear the Ouroborous, and he also told that I know him better than anybody else." Ed groaned in frustration. Honestly, would it kill whoever it was to tell him who he was? It would save him a lot of grief in the future.

"Hm, this is most suspicious." Armstrong said, fortunately still wearing his shirt. Speaking of, where did his previous one vanish to during his fight with Scar? Did he disintegrate it, or something?

Just then, Hughes poked his head through the door with a cheeky salute. "Yo, Roy!"

Mustang massaged his temples, feeling the oncoming headache. Dear Truth, he needed more Asprin, and it was his luck that he just ran out of the only medicine that could possibly give him relief.

But before Mustang could say anything, another much shorter figure peeked out from behind the doorway, brightening up as she caught sight of Edward and Alphonse. "Big brothers!"

Ed's eyes widened as relief flooded his face, while Al proved out it was physically possible to show expressions on armour. "Nina!"

"Oh right. I forgot to tell you about her, Roy." Hughes grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as Nina ran over to give her big brothers a hug as Ed nearly cried with joy. "This teenager dropped her off at my dorm and told me to take care of her."

Mustang straightened at this, frowning. "Teenager? Wait, who was he?"

Hughes shrugged. "Beats me. He had a hood up, and pretty much just told me to guess who he was. He said I knew him, though."

"That sounds like the same guy, Colonel Bastard!" Ed piped up, leaving a very confused Hughes and an exasperated Alphonse swatting Ed for the use of inappropriate language in front of a little girl.

"Wha?" Was the only intelligent thing Hughes could come up with at that moment, feeling completely lost as to what Ed was talking about since he wasn't around or the first part of the conversation.

Alphonse, being the kind soul he was, took in upon himself to explain the context of the conversation they were having.

"Well," Hughes began, now having a full understanding of the situation. "I could try look up for some information on this person."

"That would be appreciated."

Just then, Alphonse piped up. "Uh... I'm sorry to interrupt but, I would like to be fixed..." Al trailed off, as everyone turned to look at him.

"Would you like me to fix you up?" Armstrong boomed, his shirt mysteriously vanishing as he posed.

"No thank you." Alphonse firmly said as he proved it possible for armour to sweat.

"Yeah. I'm the only one who knows how to bind Al's soul the armour. But can't exactly do that with my arm in pieces." Ed explained, casting a glance at the pieces of his shattered automail. "So I'll have to go get a replacement."

"... Brother, you know she's going to kill you, right?"

"... Please don't remind me. I'm stressed enough as it is." Ed groaned, his head starting to throb at the mere reminder of a certain blonde mechanic and her weapo- uh, tools.

Everyone else could only look at them in confusion.

[A/N Well, here's chapter four. However, I have a suspicion that it's not up to my usual standards. Oh well...

Well, I'm looking forward to writing the next one, so I hope I'll get it out soon! Also, I know my battle scenes suck, so please forgive me if you didn't like the really short one of Scar vs Edward.

Also, if you find any mistakes that I missed in the chapter like misspellings, don't hesitate to tell me so I can fix it.

Hope you enjoyed this!

~ Gwntan12]