Disclaimer: I Don't own D Gray-man, no profits, blah, blah, blah

What the Darkness Knows

The wind was howling in Allen's ears by the time he arrived at the town's train station. The rain swirled in the wind as a gust found the tear in his jacket. With every step he made a sloshing sound. Everything was soaked. Sighing, Allen sat down on a bench to wait for the coming train. It hadn't been a terrible mission, he'd just missed the rendezvous with his finder. It turned out to be a good thing that the finder wasn't with him. One finder wouldn't have been able to do much against the group of Akuma that he'd come across and Allen blanched at the thought of not being able to protect them.

Allen smiled to himself thinking about what happened in the village. It was close to Halloween and it always made him feel nostalgic for when he traveled with Mana. All the costumes and people being silly and mysterious. Touching his cursed eye, he was thankful for it when throngs of people surrounded him, but, also made him sad for how he received it. It wouldn't do to dwell on such things though. He knew so much more now than he did when he'd turned Mana into an Akuma.

With as focused on his thoughts as he was, Allen was startled to hear the train whistle in the distance. Standing up he stretched and popped his sore body. Perhaps he could catch a small nap on the train heading back to the Order. He stood by the tracks to watch the train come in. The sun was nearly set and a light fog had rolled in after the rain had stopped. A couple minutes passed and the train cut through the fog between the trees and came to a stop at the station. Allen boarded and walked to the cabin he would be using. Upon dropping his suitcase on the ground he promptly lay back and covered his face with his arm. Within minutes he was asleep.

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Allen was jolted out of his light slumber when he was thrown to the floor of his cabin. The screeching of the brakes was deafening and he clutched his head. Standing up, he shook the sleep away and looked out the window to see if he could tell what was happening.

The train was close to a bridge on a very steep cliff overlooking a winding river. In the low light he could make out a gap in the bridge ahead, smoke still rising from it.

"Great," Allen muttered to himself. It was going to take longer to get home now. No sleep for him.

He paused to draw a sharp breath, eye activating. There were several Akuma circling something close to the Cliffside. Several more rising up from the river. Fire suddenly climbed into the sky in the shape of a large serpent.

"Lavi!" Allen shouted as he ran outside. The front of the train wasn't that far away. Lavi's fire stamp engulfed most of the Akuma surrounding him, but not the ones coming up the cliff. He ran as fast as he could, but, it wasn't going to be enough. He wasn't going to reach him in time. Allen saw that Lavi had fallen to his knees, panting, leaning heavily on his hammer.

Lavi, no…

"Lavi! Behind you!"

Lavi was finally within earshot. "Huh?" Raising his single bloodshot green eye, Lavi noticed Allen running toward him. He smiled slightly in relief before realizing what Allen had said. He leapt to his feet and turned around. Too late though. The ground trembled beneath him, Lavi turned again to face Allen. He tried to activate his innocence again, but the ground finally fell away and he lost his concentration. He saw Allen's wide eyes as he shouted trying to run even faster. The words were lost to Lavi as he started to fall. Hitting his head as he tumbled downward, the hammer fell from his fingers, and his world turned dark.

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"Nooooooo!" Allen shouted as he pushed himself more. The Akuma still hadn't come over the edge were he could see them clearly. He was only a few seconds behind when Allen threw himself over the edge after Lavi. As he fell down after Lavi, Allen took in the condition of his friend. He was unconscious and a gash on the side of his head was bleeding, his head band lost. The Akuma were about to fire on both of them, so Allen activated his arm and caught Lavi in his giant claw. Allen's victory was only momentary when he realized that he still needed to stop their plummet to the river. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't protect Lavi, stop their fall, and destroy the Akuma around them. Once Lavi was pulled to him, Allen began shooting as many Akuma as he could, praying all the while that the water wouldn't hurt that bad when they fell into it.

"Cross Grave!" Allen ground out while brilliant white crosses covered the remaining Akuma. Seeing how close they were to the water's surface, Allen hugged Lavi to his chest. He tried to cover as much of Lavi as he could to protect him from the coming explosion. When the Akuma detonated Allen and Lavi were thrown even faster in to the water. The pain was sharp and encompassed his entire body starting from his back. The stinging sensation forced the air from his lungs and set his head in a daze. He looked up at the surface of the water, the moonlight danced on the rippling waves. They were getting pretty deep. Blinking furiously to try and clear his head Allen kicked himself and Lavi to the surface. While Allen gulped and gasped on the air he drank in, Lavi's head just lolled on his shoulder. Allen swam to the shore dragging Lavi with him concern flooding him when he couldn't feel any breathing coming from the weight on his shoulder.

No, no, no, no!

Allen pulled Lavi on to the shore, watching as water dribbled from his open mouth. He was starting to panic. He couldn't lose Lavi, he was his best friend! Allen turned Lavi on his side to let more water drain from him. Checking his pulse, he was surprised that there was one, but, why wasn't he breathing? When no more water came out Allen turned Lavi onto his back.

"Lavi, Lavi, wake up!" Allen shouted at his unresponsive friend. He felt tears start to fill his eyes. Lavi's skin was so cold and pale. The entire side of Lavi's face was covered in blood now. Allen grabbed the front of his shirt and shook him. "Wake up you stupid rabbit!" he dropped him back down and hit his chest a few times with his fists. "W-wake up…" Allen started to cry. Sudden coughing startled Allen. He saw more water coming out of Lavi's mouth and Allen quickly turned him over so Lavi could purge the water from his lungs and stomach. Lavi was barely holding up his own weight. When he was done and his shaking arms could support him no more Lavi pitched forward. Allen caught him and pulled him back to his chest hugging him tightly.

"Lavi, are you alright?" Lavi was still coughing and gasping. His eye patch had come loose and hung closer to his chin. Both Lavi's eyes were tightly closed and he had a pained expression on his face. Allen brushed Lavi's hair from his face and reattached his eye patch. Allen began crying tears of relief as he rocked and hugged Lavi to him again.

"Allen?" Lavi whispered, "Whaa what happened?" He continued to cough as he weakly clutched Allen's shirt.

"You almost died, you idiot." Allen buried his face in Lavi's wet hair. He felt Lavi's body tense as he drew in a sharp breath.

"The Akuma?" Lavi asked in a pained whisper.

"They're gone. I took care of them."

"Oh… s-sor-ry."

"It's alright Lavi, they're gone now, and we're both alive. I need to get a fire started, get some rest ok?"

Allen lay Lavi back on the ground. Lavi just made a non-committal grunt as he was already half asleep. The exhaustion from the fight and his brush with death draining his remaining energy. Allen sat there beside him a few minutes longer running his fingers through Lavi's hair. He let the tears continue to fall until after he heard the contented sighs coming from Lavi as he rested. Allen was almost afraid to leave his side. Afraid that it was an illusion that Lavi was here and alive.

"Stop it Allen, he's not a pet." Allen said to himself. He still smiled as Lavi sighed again. The smile dropped though when he realized that Lavi's head wound was still bleeding. He'd take care of that, then start the fire.

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Pain, searing head pain and an uncomfortable heaviness in his chest, those were the things that went through Lavi's mind when he started to wake. Coughing harshly he brought a hand to his head hoping that the pressure would alleviate the growing pain that came with the coughing.

Lavi felt himself being lifted to a seated position and hugged to someone's chest. Continuing to cough he felt a hand on his head gently squeezing. Who?

"Lavi, are you with me this time?"

"Allen?" Lavi groaned when he tried to open his eye. Hissing, he buried his head in Allen's chest. "Ugggggg, my head."

"Take it easy. You've been out for a while, how are you feeling?"

"Did you hit me with my hammer?" Lavi half joked as he coughed again.

"Damn, you must have gotten more water in you than I thought."

"Water..?" Lavi's memories suddenly returned. "I…I fell? I drowned?" It can't be. No way!

"We both fell, and your heart never stopped, so… no?"

Lavi's fists clenched in Allen's shirt, he could read between the lines. "You.. you saved me, Allen."

Allen felt Lavi tremble, the usually carefree exorcist was beginning to unravel before him. It must be the shock of almost dying, or the head wound.

"Lavi, you hit your head pretty hard on the way down, take it easy. You're okay, and so am I." He felt Lavi unclench his fists and his arms snake around his torso.

I don't understand what I'm feeling. Why can't I stop shaking? Oh, god, I almost died! What is this ache in my heart, it's pounding in my chest. I'm breathing too fast, and crying? Great. Getting dizzy. Lavi's thoughts stopped making sense as a buzzing took over his head. He couldn't breathe. He didn't feel his grip loosening around Allen as he started to pass out again.

Allen kept Lavi pulled to him and drug his fingers through his hair again. It seemed to settle him before. Lavi was hyperventilating and still shaking like a leaf. Allen continued to comfort Lavi and slowly his breathing returned to normal. Lavi's arms went slack around him and his body completely relaxed. Allen was pretty sure that Lavi just worked himself up too much. He scratched his head wondering what to do about Lavi. This behavior was totally out of character for him. Definitely the injury or shock. Had to be.

Allen decided to keep their position, so he leaned himself against a stone near the fire. Lavi was still draped over him, now snoring. Allen would tell him tomorrow about his innocence being missing. It was in the river.

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A few towns over under a very full moon, a woman winds a few strands of white hair around a sapling's twig. Her eyes shown a blazing red against the light of the fire. She threw the hair covered twig into the fire and spoke.

"When your heart settles and your mind knows peace shall you return to your innocence. Once your innocence finds love unbound will you return to your true state."

After saying those words she cut an end off her own hair and cast it into the fire as well. Standing up, she giggled and twirled as she danced around her fire.

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Stupid hammer, stupid Lavi. It had taken at least two hours to find that damned thing. It had been jammed between some rocks in water just deep enough to make him hold his breath. Allen had sat down beside Lavi, looking at him worriedly. He'd gotten a full night's sleep, and now more than half the day was gone. Lavi was still asleep. His breathing seemed to be slightly labored and his cheeks held an unhealthy glow. Allen brushed his fingers against Lavi's forehead. Too warm, great.

"Lavi," Allen said as he cupped Lavi's face and tapped his cheek. The heat seemed worse closer to Lavi's neck. When the tapping didn't work Allen moved his hand to Lavi's shoulder and shook him a bit. This earned him a long groan and the twitching of an eye. Slowly that eye blinked open, entirely unfocused, pained, and confused.

Allen winced as he heard Lavi try to speak. "Al-len?" he pushed out of his wrecked throat. Immediately, Lavi curled up on his side and began to cough, and cough. Allen saw Lavi's hands fly to his head as his eye scrunched closed. Allen moved his hand from Lavi's shoulder to his back.

"Lavi, what's wrong?" Allen said as he leaned over him.

"Huh?" Lavi choked out as he peered at Allen through his barely open eye.

"How are you feeling?" Allen asked as he rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure that he knew the answer.

"Ugh, my head is killing me." Lavi would never admit just how crappy he felt, how disoriented and heavy his entire body was. He heard Allen sigh.

"Yeh, we need to get moving. I need to get you back home. Can you stand?" Allen stood up and grabbed Lavi's hands. "Come on."

Crap.

Lavi's entire world blurred and his stomach churned as Allen pulled him to his feet. Allen saw how Lavi's face turned green and his legs started to buckle under his own weight. Quickly pulling Lavi in to an awkward hug, they stood there for a moment so Lavi could get his bearings. Lavi was convulsively swallowing, trying to keep whatever was in his stomach where it belonged. His legs still shook and he was overwhelmingly tired. Before he could object he was positioned on Allen's back and lifted. He wouldn't confess it, but he was grateful, not only for the stumbling and slowing of their journey he would be avoiding, but for the warmth Allen's body would provide.

"What, no complaints?" Allen asked. Lavi only placed his arms around Allen and buried his face in his neck. Allen could feel the slight shaking that was coming from Lavi now. "Try to get some more rest if you can Lavi, we aren't that far away from headquarters."

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The next time Lavi woke, he was lying on something soft and warm. There was only a dull throbbing in his head now, but, still an uncomfortable heaviness in his chest. There was something on his face producing a cool air flow for his nose and mouth. Taking a deep breath, Lavi cursed himself as he started coughing violently. He reached up and pulled the mask off his face as his eye fluttered open. He was in the infirmary. He looked around after his episode and saw that Allen was passed out at the foot of his bed and a nurse coming around the corner to check on him. She smiled at him as she approached his bed.

"It's good to see you finally awake." She picked up the mask and placed it back on his face. "You really need to leave this on. I'm afraid that you've caught a very nasty case of pneumonia. When Allen brought you in, your lips and fingertips were blue from lack of oxygen."

"How long have we been back?" Lavi questioned before the mask was firmly placed on him.

"A couple days. You need your rest mister, otherwise you won't get any better. This mask is helping you to breathe, but until you start coughing out the mess in your lungs you could get worse very fast."

She busied herself straitening up the blankets around Lavi and felt his forehead. She frowned as he shivered when her hand touched his head, his fever still being high. Walking down to the foot of his bed she placed her hand on Allen's head.

"He's been here since you were brought in, refusing to leave your side until you woke. Poor child has exhausted himself." She grabbed a blanket from another bed and draped it over Allen's sleeping form. "From what I understand he walked with you on his back for two or three days before he got here."

That means I've been unconscious for about a week and Allen carried me all that way without taking care of himself. Lavi felt a lightness in his chest thinking about it. The only person that really ever took care of him when he was ill was the old panda. He was just protecting his apprentice though. Allen actually cared. Allen was close enough that Lavi could grab his hand. I'm mad at him for not taking care of himself, but if I was turning blue… that meant that I just narrowly avoided death again, and Allen was the one to save me, twice. Lavi sighed and squeezed Allen's hand. He felt his heart swell when Allen blinked himself awake. He was groggy about waking, but when he turned his head and those silver orbs fell on Lavi, his whole face lit up. Tears were filling his eyes as he took in Lavi's condition, but a huge grin covered his face. Allen moved his chair closer to Lavi's head, never once breaking the hold Lavi had on his hand.

"You're finally awake! I was afraid you weren't going to wake up."

Allen took a long look at Lavi. Even though he'd been asleep for the last few days, he still looked terrible. His skin was greyed and he had dark circles under his eyes. He'd lost a lot of weight and his face was gaunt. Lavi gave him a tired smile and squeezed his hand again, holding on tightly.

"Thank you, Allen," He said, though it was muffled through the mask he wore.

The words he spoke rattled Lavi's chest again and he began to cough, hard. This time he had more trouble catching his breath. With his other hand Lavi clawed at his chest and curled his body around where Allen was sitting. He could feel tears pricking his eye, he couldn't breathe. There was a hard thumping on his back and a squishy sounding splat in his mask. The mask was promptly removed, but not before Lavi caught his breath again. The blackness that had started to curl in on the edge of his vision was replaced with specks of white as he gulped down more air. His eye was fluttering open and closed and he was suddenly very aware of how close Allen was to his face. Not having the energy to move at the moment or being conscious of his shaking body he gave Allen a very slight smile.

"I'm okay now," he whispered to Allen as he weakly clutched his friend's hand.

Allen was looking at Lavi like he didn't believe him at all. With the frown still plastered on his face Allen removed his boots and crawled in the bed next to Lavi. Lavi in turn started to protest, but when he felt Allen's body next to him and the comfort and warmth he provided, he let it go. It's what family does for each other, right? Lavi was still laid on his side and Allen had curled up around the position Lavi had ended up in. He was very comfortable and already starting to nod off again. Lavi wasn't even aware that the nurse had returned with a knowing smile on her face to replace the mask she'd removed from him to clean.

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