Told ya. Immediately. I'm really just moving fics over from ao3, but have fun with this chapter!

Chapter Two: Q&A

Alphonse… had too many thoughts running around his brain.

Winry had left him with the stranger, running back to help Granny as soon as they made it to the bathroom. Al wanted to follow her. He wanted so very much to be by his brother's side, to help Granny and Winry, to make sure Ed would be all right.

There had been -was, there was blood all over him, and that stranger -so much blood.

Al remembered waking up, but his body hadn't been his. No, he wasn't this tall, wasn't this bulky, wasn't this metallic. He'd been stunned, confused, wanted to cry, yet his body had done none of that. It had no nerves to feel the air with, no eyes to produce tears with. No throat to scream with.

Except, he could scream. He had, somehow, called for his brother as soon as the world re-centered -it hadn't been spinning, like that time he'd hit his head too hard in a spar, that didn't feel like the world snapping into place around him -and he'd scrambled for the first bit of blond he'd seen with his not-eyes.

His brother had been propped up against the wall, missing two limbs, and crying.

Then he'd seen the transmutation.

Their failure.

The reason his brother was hurt.

I should have said something more, Al thought. I should have done something more.

It's all my fault. Is Ed going to-?

Something tapped his shoulder, sharp and hard, and the sound echoed through his armor. Al jolted. His body, however, was still bigger than he remembered, and he banged his helmet -head? Head. -against the wall with a loud clang.

He brought his hands to his head to hold it still again. The stranger was crouched down in front of him, a rag and bowl in one hand, watching him with an expression Al couldn't quite figure out.

"What- what was that for? And, uh… who… are you?" he muttered. Because he hadn't even gotten the older boy's name yet.

The stranger, however, wasn't truly looking him in… the armor's eyes? He was vaguely looking at the armor's face. Al felt like he was looking at and past him at the same time.

It was unnerving.

"Danny," he said, ringing out the rag, "And, uh, sorry. About earlier. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Um… I…" Al remembered the shock he'd gotten when the stranger -Danny? -had appeared out of nowhere with bright green eyes -that were now blue, Al realized. "No, you didn't -I was just… surprised?"

"Still," the stranger said, lifting the rag to wipe away the blood. Al wanted to protest, he could do that himself -it was his fault anyway -but he froze when he found himself on the receiving end of the boy's eyes.

They were glowing green again.

"I don't know what happened," he said, lowering the rag, "I don't know what happened back there, what you two were doing there, but don't—" He snapped his mouth shut, and his eyes changed color between blinks. "Don't blame yourself for something out of your control."

Al looked down, "I- I should've done something—"

A pair of arms wrapped around his neck, and though Al couldn't feel the stranger, he felt something twinge in his soul. A hiccup echoed out of him. He wondered if he could cry anymore.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" He said. To Ed, to his mom, to his teacher, to this stranger.

Danny stayed there, and though Al had many, many questions, he was grateful.

The old lady and the girl -Granny and Winry, or so Al had called them -didn't reappear until much later. Danny kept his eyes closed, his emotions in check, as he tried to dampen his senses -emphatic abilities were hell on his nerves, and though he couldn't just turn the ability off, he could at least lessen the extent to which he felt them.

"He'll live," the old lady told them all, relief surrounding her.

Al hiccupped, and Danny cracked an eye to see the little spirit huddled in on himself, crying once more. Winry dragged her feet over to him and placed her arms around his waist in a hug. Al very nearly panicked -he didn't know what to do with his body, Danny knew, but he calmed down and placed a careful hand around her shoulders.

Danny wondered if he could help with that.

The old lady sighed, "Winry, go clean up, and rest. Alphonse, go sit with your brother. I'll be back to check on him in a bit."

The two kids complied, if slowly. Winry was obviously tired, too tired to shoot him a glance before heading down the hall. Al was simply careful and wary of where he put his feet as he ducked into the room after figuring out how to fit through the doorway.

Soon it was just he and the old lady in the hall. He could feel her tired curiosity.

Danny looked to her. She stood about his height while he was sitting, which was fairly short. She was giving him that kind of look Jazz did when she was trying to figure him out.

"How did you find them?" She asked, part of her curiosity fading.

Danny took a breath, keeping his hold on his ability firm, "It was… an accident."

What could he say, really? Or, what should he say?

She approached him and held out a hand. He followed it up to her eyes.

"I'm Pinako Rockbell," she said with a small, motherly smile, "I don't believe we've met properly yet."

He felt his hold loosen at the caring, worry that came from her. She was worried, and he wasn't really helping, all wrapped up in himself like this. He reached out to take her hand, "I'm Danny. Danny Fenton."

She wasn't as frail as she'd looked, with how she helped him to his feet. She was surprised, however, and asked, "Are you all right?"

He glanced at his hand. Right. Cold. "Besides being too far from home, I'm fine."

He shoved the ache aside again. Not right now.

She squinted her eyes, "Where would home be?"

He ignored the pang. Instead, he gave her a wry smile, "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you."

She hummed, "I don't know. I've seen a lot in my day. You'd be surprised." She waved him on down the hall, "Let's take this to the kitchen. I'd like to know a little more about the person who helped my grandkids."

He wasn't completely sure he was thinking rationally.

The ache was still present. The emotions in the house had calmed, leaving him raw from fighting them off. The tea, however, was incredibly welcome and calmed his shaking nerves.

The reason he wasn't sure he was rational at the moment, was because he did something his fourteen year old self hadn't done that often. Something he hadn't done until he had been sixteen and tired of keeping secrets. Secrets that he hadn't had to keep and learned to relax with in the three years since.

He told the truth.

He didn't know what could really be considered atypical in this world. There was a child's soul walking around in a suit of armor, some horrid abomination a house over, and a dog with a mechanical leg eyeing him from under the table. He didn't know what this world would think of someone like him, a stranded halfa from another dimension.

So, he'd told Ms. Rockbell the truth. What he was. Where he was from. Tried not to drop too many bombs aside from other worlds and ghosts exist. The worst she could do would be call him crazy, run him off. He'd at least know what to not do in public if she did.

Except, she hadn't done any of that.

He'd finished off with a demonstration, phasing his hand through the table to pet the dog, and sat back with his tea to await judgement.

There had been a beat of silence, and she'd muttered, "Ghosts… And here I'd thought I'd seen it all."

Danny blinked at the resignation in the air, "Wait, you believe me?"

She sipped her tea, "You're not the first person I've met, that had stories to tell. Hoenheim, those boys' father, he had lots of… outlandish drinking tales, though he never gave me many details, that idiot." She shook her head, "But you wouldn't know much about this place. Alchemy? I've seen it do stranger things."

He dropped his gaze. The dog whined. Danny scratched him behind the ears. "What is alchemy?" Because obviously it wasn't what he thought it was.

It was a quiet conversation. He asked questions, and Ms. Rockbell, this kind old lady, answered as best she could. About alchemy. About this world. About that man, Hoenheim, who was probably his best chance. He listened, taking it all in, committing it to memory, because he didn't know what bit of information could be what got him home.

Conversation, however, eventually shifted back to the boys. Ms. Rockbell's expression closed off, but her emotions swirled in a heavy regret, "Edward and Alphonse, they've been off with a teacher all this time. Learning alchemy. I hadn't even known they'd gotten back. What they tried…" She paused. "They loved their mother deeply. Losing her was the hardest thing they've ever had to go through. And they wanted her back."

The tea was gone by this point. She had both hands clasped on the table, lost in her grief.

Danny closed his eyes. Bringing back the dead…He'd been among the dead for years now. That barrier wasn't something he understood, not when he wasn't truly capable of living out a normal living life. What he did understand, however, was what loss could make people do.

How lonely had those boys felt, to try and defy death and see their mother again?

Ms. Rockbell shook her head, her emotions turning toward more determined things. She glanced at the door, "There's something else I need to take care of tonight."

He winced. There was still that husk, back at the other house. Still the blood.

"I can—"

She scraped her chair against the ground and stood, "I would like to ask you to stay here and watch the kids. I'll be back in a few hours."

Danny wasn't sure about letting her go alone. But there was stubbornness about her, and it would take more energy than he had at the moment to talk her out of it. He nodded.

He sat there, after she had left, breathing in the calmness of night. The dog wined. Danny looked down at him and smiled, "You're a lot calmer than Cujo, at least."

And that, that made him let go of the iron grip he had on himself. The separation from his haunt and the fact that he could not find the one responsible, that he could not protect his people, finally caught up with him. He rest his head on the table and let out a shaky breath.

"I'll get back…. I promise."

Winry blearily woke, sunlight streaming through the window, her head resting not on a pillow, but a metal arm.

She twitched, before remembering what exactly happened last night. A yawn and she pulled herself upright.

"Winry?"

Al looked to her, and she clamped down on the worry that wanted to make her cry, "Hi, Al. did you sleep?"

"… no," he said, and that echoing voice was still weird, "I don't think… I don't think I can, in this… body."

She frowned. That was no good.

"Winry?"

"Hmm?"

"Is Ed really gonna be okay?"

"He will be."

A moment passed. She used it to take a look at Ed, sleeping in the bed, bandaged all over. They would probably need replacing soon…

"Thanks. For worrying about us."

She turned back, startled –but no, Al had always been more sensitive than Ed, even if he could be thick-headed. She felt that lid on her emotions crack a bit.

"I'm always worried, Al."

"… sorry."

"It's okay."

The door opened, and in walked Granny. Winry grimaced. She had been told to go to bed last night, yet here she was.

She smiled sheepishly, "Hi, Granny."

Granny stared at her for an agonizing moment, then shook her head and pointed to the door, "Out, both of you. Go entertain our guest."

Neither of them fought her on that, shuffling out of the room and sneaking glances at Ed before she shut the door. Winry blinked, the last statement registering in her tired brain, "Oh yeah, that guy yesterday. He's still here?"

She looked up at Al, not that she could read anything on the armor's face. He fidgeted with his hands, "Uh, yeah. His name's Danny. I guess he stayed last night?"

She hummed, turning down the hall, "Well, let's go meet him!"

It would be a good distraction, anyway.

They entered the living room, and Winry held in a giggle. Al didn't.

There, on the couch, was Danny, sprawled on the couch, his white-flecked hair a mess, and Den lying on his stomach. The family dog wasn't asleep but looked to both of them when they entered and growled.

"Maybe we should… let him sleep?" Al asked.

"Den seems to think so…" Winry laughed awkwardly. "How about we just… go start on breakfast, while Granny's taking care of Ed?"

Al agreed. They left Den to his guard duty. Winry wondered what kind of person Danny was, for Den to get so protective of him so quickly.

Gotta love that old woman. Anyway, once again, I hope you enjoyed! Once again also, please don't expect quick updates. I make too many commitments.

Your input is appreciated!

-Dragon