Chapter One

Atomic*Accerelated Gait

A white-haired male tapped his fingers against the rusted metal of the old balcony he stood on. A champagne glass was in his left hand, filled with red wine. He wasn't really thirsty, thus had no idea why he poured himself a glass. Maybe he was a little angsty. He had a tendency to be skittish and apprehensive without acknowledging it.d Then, he had to think that he wasn't at all stressed out and nothing aggravating has happened lately. In addition to that, he was smiling. He couldn't be any happier. He was finally in the highlight of his career. Life had finally smoothed out for him and he was in a prosperous relationship. There was no guarantee that he'll continue dating her forever, but until something proves significantly downgrading to the relationship, he was forever faithful. So why did he pour a glass of champagne? He typically doesn't drink or have the urge to drink unless he was unsettled or forced into it through a special occasion.

Even though he wasn't thirsty in the slightest, he took a sip of his classy, expensive red wine. The liquid danced around his tongue and seeped into his taste buds. Swallowing, he inhaled through his nose, closing his eyes. A soft breeze gingerly caressed his exposed skin as he was shirtless. Typically he would have some sort of clothing on to cover his torso, but it was really late at night, or really, really early in the morning, so no one was around to see his half-naked body and marred arm and scars. He took another sip of his red wine, finding it very distasteful as it had always been his least favored drink. Another hint as to why he believed something was stirring, but he had no idea what was occurring.

Something is very wrong... But what... I cannot tell.

Two small, cold hands touched his back, soothingly massaging him. A chin perched itself on his left shoulder that had parts of the red, bumpy flesh from his arm and some smooth, pale skin that many people took into consideration and presumed him albino, which he was not. Those tiny hands moved from his back, sliding over his right shoulder and the second hand slithering its way to his abdomen, slowly, arousing him.

"Ne, Allen," a soft female's voice whispered, her lips pressing against his neck and tickling him with each word she spoke. "Why are you out here? You should be in bed with me."

Allen opened his eyes, moaning as his muscles eased under her touch. "Mmm, Road."

"What are you doing out here?" Road asked.

Allen pivoted so he was facing her. The first thing that dawned on him was that she was only in her lingerie. Had he not been used to seeing her bare or half-naked he'd be blushing to an extent that his face was redder than his wine, but instead of that he rubbed her arm, leaning against the balcony railing as she pressed up against him.

"I needed some air. What are you doing out here without anything on?" Allen mumbled, kissing her neck. "Road, you know that isn't a very good thing to do outside."

Road laughed, forcing Allen to lift his head so she could brush her lips over his, taunting, teasing, baiting him. His smile widened and he leisurely wrapped his arms around her shoulders, inhaling her scent of sugar and cotton candy. "Road, please go inside and get dressed."

Again, a melodic laugh rang in Allen's ear and Allen himself couldn't suppress a chuckle. Road continued to massage Allen's stiff muscles, earning a few low groans from Allen. Aroused and lustful, Allen kissed Road's plush, sugary lips. Road didn't wait to kiss him back. In fact, Allen could feel her smirk. His glass of wine was still in his hand, but with his free hand he let his fingers linger over her skin as he depthened the hot kiss. Road's fingers got tangled in his soft hair and she wrapped her legs around Allen's waist, forcing him to fold his arm around her to support her weight.

"Mhmm, the bed, Allen." Road whispered, kissing Allen's warm neck. "Now."

Softly, Allen kissed her neck, his lips laying above the pulse beneath her skin. "You're horny." Allen claimed.

"And you're getting there. Don't make me beg."

Allen took another sip of his red wine, sighing. Road could easily arouse him. She knew just what to say or what to do... What to touch, but he had to skip out on the sexual fun this morning. She'd have to try a little harder and if she did, then Allen was screwed. He couldn't be late for this appointment.

"I have work. I really can't be late."

"But Allen!" Road whined.

"Later. We already had an eventful night." Allen mumbled, walking inside and closing the balcony doors, moaning when Road began to rub her lower body up and down his pelvis area. "Ro-Road!"

"Don't you think you're starting a little early?" Road mocked, licking his lips.

Allen rolled his mercury eyes, setting the red wine on the circular wooden table. He walked over to the couch and roughly and without grace, pushed Road on it, resisting the temptation to crawl on top of her. He smiled upon seeing the pout on Road's face. She was adorable and telling her no was never easy. Road pried and poked and prodded until she got w hat she wanted, but it seems Allen was one of the very few people who could manage to get Road to obey them. She was a cutie pie and a real keeper, if you understood her. Road could be a little sadistic and creepy sometimes, however, she wasn't entirely a bad person. Most of Road's family had sadism in their genes and a wicked sense of humor.

"I love you, Road, but I seriously have to get to work. We can spend some time together later." Allen said with a tone finality.

"But you're always tired when you come home." Road complained.

Allen smiled, ghosting his lips over hers and settling his leg beside her hip. "It's never stopped us before. Kissing is wonderful, but right now we're not going to go any further than a make out. I'm sorry."

"No you're not."

Allen laughed, rubbing her arms. He wasn't sorry about missing out on her "playtime game" because he wasn't the type of person to find sex as a way to spend time with your partner every night, every day. It was pleasurable, oh, very pleasurable and desirable, nevertheless, there were limits and things to be done. Planting his lips on her tender skin just above her breast, Allen stood up and stretched his arms above his head. He didn't miss Road's lustful gaze as she watched him, her eyes often drifting to his lower region. With a heavy fake sigh, Road stood up, finding Allen's wine and drinking the rest of it.

"Next time I won't wear any clothes." she declared, laughing at the dread tha crossed Allen's face and his hanging jaw. "I would say I'm joking, but I'd be lying."

"Road, you mustn't! Not outside."

"Oh, really? Are you worried someone might take me from you? Is that why I must cover up?"

Allen frowned. He never made Road wear something she didn't want to. He never tried changing her outlook on life. He never tried changing anything about her nor make her do something she didn't want to... Unless it was minor or a special occasion. Stuff like that. Formal stuff. And that was still rare. Besides, Road only listens to him when she wants to or if she gets something out of it. Usually, it's Allen or candy. It was a wonder her teeth weren't rotten with all the sugar she wolfs down.

"My idea of covering up is a pair pants and shirt and shoes if you're going to walk around outside." Allen told her as he walked down his narrow hall to his bedroom. He loved his apartment to death-it had beenfits, it was small enough for, it was cozy, there were hardly any problems, and the list goes on-but it was generally too small for all of Road's toys that looked an awful lot like voo doo dolls. They didn't live together, but you might as well call it that. Half of Road's belongings are in Allen's possession right now. Some of Allen's stuff was at her house too. Road actually had a house though. Whereas Allen could only afford a one bedroom apartment. If they were ever to move in with each other they would have to go to Road's house, but Allen loved his apartment. He's lived here for years. He's been here ever since he got away from that demon he called a guardian.

"Hey, Road's where are my gloves?" Allen shouted, digging through the pile of clothes on the floor from last night, then rummaging through his drawers when he couldn't find his gloves from yesterday. Hell, glancing around he's notice how messy his room really was. When did he become so disorganized? Oh, right, when Road decided to come over almost every night. "Road, have you seen my gloves!?"

"Not since you threw them off last night!" Road yelled back.

"Where did I throw them?" Allen persisted as he took off his pants and quickly replaced them with clean stonewashed jeans. He would be changing his clothes again at work, but he had a few stops before he went there. "Damn. Where are all my shirts? None of them are clean in here!"

"The gloves might be on the bed somewhere! I don't know anything about your shirts, Allen!"

Well, that was helpful. He jumped on the bed, picking the blanket up and flicking his wrists repeated to unfold it and let anything stuck in it or on it fall to the but Road's candy wrappers. Wodnerful. He tossed the blanket on the floor; it needed to be cleaned. It smelled and it was dirty and... Ugh, sticky? Geez, is Road pouring syrup all over my blankets? Allen shook his head, feeling around his bed for his gloves. He found one under a hard pillow that had feathers and feathers alone under the fabric. He decided that was clean and left it on the bed, searching under several more pillows and in the pillow cases, not finding the second one. Groaning, Allen tossed all his pillows on his dresser or in his closet, or in the need-to-be-cleaned pile, and took the bed sheet off, also throwing that in the dirty pile he was making. Lifting the mattress and trying to find the glove.

"Oh, Allen! It might be on the couch." Road said.

"Okay, thanks!"

Allen sighed, letting the mattress slowly drop back onto the box spring. He placed all his clean bed necessities on the bed and checked the closet to make sure he didn't have any extra clean shirts. None. Cursing, he picked up all his dirty bed necessities and a gray shirt, running down the hall and trying very hard not to trip over the sheets that he felt under each footfall. He didn't succeed. When he got to the couch he stepped on too much of the soft blanket and slipped, however, something under him saved his fall. He blinked, pushing the fabrics aside, smiling weakly at the girl beneath him.

"Sorry, Road."

"See? You so want me? Come on, just a qui-"

"No, Road. I have to leave in an hour, skip the traffic routes, and I may not be able to run my errands until I'm done working. I had no idea I wasted so much time this morning!" Allen scrambled to his feet, helping Road stand up, and dashing to the laundry room... Or a side room that barely allowed his dryer and washer to sit in there. He had to put all his laundry cleaning supplies on top of the dryer or on the floor. "I have to clean my house today. Road, do me a favor and go shopping for some groceries for me or at least do my laundry."

Allen shoved his blankets, bed sheets, pillow cases, one pillow, and extra clothing he accidentally picked up, in the washer, pouring too much of his blue laundry soap in there, slamming the lid shut and turning it on to heavy load and twisting the knob around to some random word that he recognized, but didn't read, and was sure that he used before for cleaning his laundry. He grabbed his shirt and ran into the kitchen that was... two steps away. He turned the light on, revealing the white, brown, mahogany, black, and red colors of his kitchen. His entire apartment had dark red painted plaster or brick walls. The other colors fit in there somewhere, but that was a story description for another time when he had the time.

"Work? You want me to work? And clean?" Road asked incredulously. "Holy hell, Allen, did I bang you too hard last night?"

Allen snorted, putting his shirt in the sink and turning the water on. He got a brand new purple sponge, hurried back over to the "laundry room" and put the laundry soap on the sponge, then ran back to the sink. The shirt was already drenched, so all he had to do was scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub. He continued scrubbing and wetting the shirt until he was satisfied and he washed all the soap out of the shirt, which actually took awhile, and then he threw it in the dryer.

"This is going to be a hectic day." Allen mused, rubbing his temples.

"Uh... Allen?" Road muttered, sitting on the island that separated the kitchen and the living/dining room. Seriously, the only rooms separated by walls were his bedroom, a few closets, and the bathroom. "You need to comb your hair, get your work clothes if you don't have them at work, brush your teeth, put deodorant and cologne on, plus your washer is shaking and making bubbles."

"What?" Allen spun around, gasping. "Shit!"

The bubbles were all over! He could hardly see his kitchen!

"Hmmmm, you were better off screwing me this morning." Road uttered, shaking her head. "Have fun on your date with the bubbles."

Allen groaned, running into the hospital.

"Late again, Allen?" A man asked.

"What time is it Narain?" Allen asked, slowing his pace a little.

Narain glanced at his watch, smiling. "Exactly 5:59. You have one minute to clock in and your time is decreasing. Forty-three, forty-two, forty-one, forty. Tick tock, tick tock." Narain crowed.

Allen sped up, pivoted a corner and skillfully maneuvering around the people in the hall. Occasionally someone would greet him, laugh, wave, say good luck, or encourage him to beat the clock. He even heard three different groups of people betting on him for being late again or making it just in time. Opening a door glass door, he jogged into a lobby-like room and literally jumped over the counter, apologizing when he knocked over some papers and bumped into some, grabbing his card and swiping it with a sigh of relief. "Phew, just made it." Allen murmured, wiping sweat from his brow and smiling. "With one second to spare."

"You're making too much of a habit out of this. You keep this up you're going to be fired." A nurse told him, picking up the documents.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me help you, Sarah!" Allen exclaimed.

Allen knelt down beside the blonde-haired nurse, picking up the documents and folders that he had knocked over. Once that task was done, he tried to help put everything back where they belonged, but Sarah insisted he get to work.

"In room four there's a patient who had been shot three times. Another man was shot once and he's in the same room. His injury wasn't serious, but you might want to take a look just in case. It happened late last night, right after you left." Sarah explained, handing Allen two manilla folders.

"Why didn't anyone call me in then?" Allen asked, sighing.

"You were exhausted. You hardly had any sleep in three days. No one was going to page you."

Allen offered a small smile, thinking in the back of his mind about how wrong they were about him being exhausted. Sure, he was tired, because nothing was happening that made his adrenaline pump. There had been no excitement. No real problems. Just simple health issues. He was mostly a surgeon, but he also worked as a pediatrician or he worked in the ER. So if he had to do surgery his sleepiness would have gone away.

"Right. Well then, I suppose I should go check on them." Allen whispered, walking toward the said room as he opened the file. "Hmmm, Lavi Junior Bookman... Shot three times... once in the chest, once in the arm, and his thigh... A bullet also grazed his neck. That means he was shot four times, not three." Allen mumbled, skimming through the file. "It seems he has a history of being shot..."

Allen stopped in front of a door, skimming through the second file real quick. His name was Yuu Kanda, Asian, and he was shot in the shoulder. He didn't read everything, but he did skim through some notes taken by the nurses and surgeons last night. Humming, he knocked on the thick door, then opened it.

"Hello. Is this Lavi Junior Bookman and Yuu Kanda?" Allen asked, stepping into the room with a big smile.

"Yep!" A cheery (oddly) responded, slurping noises soon following.

Allen's smile broadened and he closed the door. In the bed lay a redheaded man who was likely older than Allen. He had an eye patch on over his right eye and his visible eye was green, sort of emerald with how bright it was. A light blue, almost white, blanket covered his lower body and he wore a regular hospital gown. He was smiling despite having been shot just last night and, Allen noted, he had many visitors. He found a man with ebony hair and cobalt eyes sitting in a chair against the wall. His mood wasn't anywhere near the same as the redhead's, but Allen assumed he was his second patient considering he was shirtless and his shoulder was bandaged, but on the left side there was a strange tattoo.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Allen Walker. I'm here to check on your wounds and see if the surgery went alright. I need to make sure everything is okay and we didn't overlook anything last night. According to a nurse, you arrived here around ten last night. Am I correct?" Allen muttered, taking his favorite white gloves off and replacing them with blue rubber gloves.

"That's right, Doc." The redhead said.

Allen stared at the redhead, picking up a clipboard-it had Lavi's files as well; he grabbed it out of a plastic pocket holder on the wall outside the room-and he walked over to the bed.

"Allen Walker... Ah, I remember you." A raspy, recognizable voice remarked, causing Allen to finally survey the other people in the room.

"Bookman! Why, I haven't seen you in awhile!" Allen exclaimed. "Wait... Lavi Junior Bookman. That's your grandson, isn't it? Which one is it? The grumpy one over there or this lively redhead?"

Bookman briefly smiled. "The annoying redhead."

"You know this Doc, Gramps?" Lavi asked curiously. "How?"

"How doesn't matter." Allen muttered, pressing his foot down on a pedal on the side of the bed and lifting the bed more so Lavi was sitting up straighter. "Does this feel alright?"

"Yeah."

Allen nodded, pleased, as he set the clipboard on a rolling table beside him. Lavi obviously ate and was still drinking what looked like ginger ale. Allen studied Lavi's appearance once again, then the other patient. They were both well-built, slightly bulky. There weren't anywhere near Allen's figure. Allen was svelte and more lean.

"Okay, so, if your Bookman's grandson it's safe to assume you're a federal agent, right?" Allen asked, eyeing the bandage on Lavi's neck.

"That's right, Doc. Man, you're smart, and if you know Gramps then you must be special, or you got in some big trouble with the law once." Lavi said.

"I wouldn't say I got in trouble with the law. Your Grandfather and I are just very good acquaintances. Bookman would occasionally share some wisdom with me. If I have to be truthful, he helped me become a doctor. Your Grandfather is a special person who I owe my life and gratitude to." Allen said softly, taking out a small flashlight and pointing it at Lavi's eye. "Look up, please... Thank you. Did you hit your head at all during the seven days? Look down now."

Lavi did as told, moving his eye about so Allen could examine him. "Nope... Wait, does Gramps count if he's hitting the back of my head if I supposedly do something stupid? Cause if so, then hell yeah."

"Would you say that you hit him too hard, Bookman?" Allen asked, his lips twitching with amusement.

"I think I should be hitting him harder." Bookman answered.

"Hey!"

"Then he isn't causing you any damage and by the looks of it," Allen muttered, turning the flashlight off and sticking it back in his pocket. Thankfully he carried his medical flashlight around, because he still hadn't changed into his work clothes, and it seemed Lavi was thinking about that. "Everything is alright. So, how exactly did you get shot?"

"Awww, the usual. Bad guys with guns thinking they can outrun the police and when they get found out by the special detectives like moi they go nuts." Lavi shrugged, wincing automatically and attempting to rub away the pain, but Allen gripped his wrist.

"Don't do that. Touching it may make it worse, wait until I examine it." Allen said strictly, sympathy evident. "I know it hurts, but I can give you some aspirin or opioids. Although I must warn you that studies show many opioids can cause certain side effects that may result in death depending on how often you take it, what for, and other health factors. Therefore, I'm going to need to look at those factors and ask questions to figure out if you're allowed to have some... Do you know if any has ever prescribed you any type of opioids?"

"Uhhh, I know a lot of things, but medical stuff isn't my thing." Lavi muttered.

"Bookman, you're family. Do you know?" Allen asked.

"I only know he occasionally takes over the counter medicines."

"I see... Well then, before I poke you or go anywhere near your wounds, let me go pull up your file and Y-"

"-Kanda! If you ever call me by my first name I will slaughter you. Painfully." Kanda threatened, glaring at the doctor.

"Right. Kanda. Aren't you pleasant?" Allen replied, shaking his head as he walked over to the door. "Well, I'll be right back and hopefully soon."

"Promise, Doc?" Lavi asked.

"I promise." Was his hearty response.

The pairing is RoadxAllen, but it may change later on. We'll just see where this story goes. I would appreciate it if you reviewed and tell me what you think. Criticism is especially welcomed. I want to make the stories I write as wonderful and enjoyable for the readers as much as possible, and I can't do that without your opinions. You can even tell me what you think about the pairings. Also, I have a forum about stories that I think are marvelous. Please check it out and let me know what you think and if you have a suggestion for the forum, let me know. I'll be updating this and th forum soon. But I would like to thank you all for reading, especially if you're reading this note. PS: This story is going to have a lot of twists. There may be some OOCness. Warning: Allen may not be as pleasant as you think...