Rain had been falling for the past 10 days and showed that it would not stop anytime soon. The strong winds didn't fall far behind, they made the raindrops in to small, thin knives attacking from the gray clouds. Leather was barely enough to cover the skin, but heavy once it had to be worn in layers. It had been obvious that no one should go outside unless completely necessary, which was one of the reasons that carriages had not been seen on the streets as people scurried by trying their hardest not to get drenched. If one were to arrive via train, then they would have to risk it and walk towards their destination. However, there was always the choice of staying at the train station and seek refuge from the rain.

In this particular night, a hooded figure had arrived at its destination, braving the Heaven's attack and relishing in the feeling of safety that the building held within. Inside awaited a warm seat in front of the fire, a table set and prepared with freshly cooked food and warm drinks to warm from the inside. But what truly awaited in this building was acceptance, safety and help. Those were the most important that this individual truly craved as its feet brought it closer and closer to the guardian of this haven, ready to collapse from exhaustion.

Though, it seemed that not everything would be as simple as that.

Within the walls of the Black Order, the alarm blasted as the guardian alerted of danger at the Order's gates. The few Exorcists that were there jumped, ready to fight this oncoming danger as Finders ran to the science department to find anything that might prove deadly, which in all truth, everything in there was deadly to some extent. As soon as everyone was prepared, they joined the Exorcists towards the entranced as it was opened to let out an attack.

The hooded individual who was outside fighting the rain was soon joined by another figure who fired out a shot as warning and in a thundering voice shouted:

"STOP YOUR GODDAMN ATTACK! IT'S ME! NOW BACK OFF!"

The hood revealed a red-headed man, face half covered by a white mask as he made his way towards the people targeting him and the other figure. Many of the Finders ran back inside to seek a place to hide from the man once they recognized him, knowing full well that nothing good would come even if they tried to apologize to the man.

"Master! What are you doing here?" Allen Walker was the first to react and approach his master.

The man, instead of greeting his student as should be done, smacked him across the head and walked through the entrance and straight towards the kitchen with the other hooded figure at his heels. It seemed that this caused the guardian to start with the alarms once again as the stranger walked into the safe haven, that is, until Komui appeared flailing arms smacking whoever happened to be in his way. His sister had already called Jerry, asking if some food had been saved for the night so that it could be served at once. Komui had come back exactly as the General had stood beside the table to relieve himself of the heavy leather and eat peacefully, perhaps even have some of the wine on reserve for his rare visits.

"It's alright now. If you had told me you were going to get here today, I could've told the guardian the situation! Goodness, Cross!"

"Tch, whatever. You should always be prepared to receive me, since that is a great honor bestowed upon all of you," he huffed. "Come, sit down, you're safe now," he now motioned for his companion as he threw his coat to Allen.

Allen, having noticed that his Master's body looked extremely odd, didn't complain once the wet clothing article hit him in the face as he was too interested in knowing if all those years of endless drinking had finally taken their toll on his Master's 'perfect' body, as the latter said about himself. But to his surprise, instead of an enormous beer gut, two little children were curled at his sides, seeking warmth and stability so that they would not fall upon the floor.

"I knew it!" Allen screamed, delighted.

"Cross, I didn't know... When did this...?" Komui started, not sure how to continue.

"I knew you had to have some kids out in the world! He even looks like you!" Allen continued with his delight. "Where is their mother? Or maybe they have different mothers? Master! Are you taking responsibility?! Did the Earl enslave humankind and the world as we know it has ended?!"

"Will you shut up, stupid apprentice? You're scaring the children. And you, you need to take that off or you are going to get sick," Cross talked to his companion, but with a gentler voice that did not go unnoticed by the small group of people in the kitchen.

"Cross, I prepared the things you asked and your suite has been set up as you had asked. But aren't they a little too big for the things?" Komui asked.

But before anyone else could say anything, Lenalee came out of the kitchen helping Jerry with the food that was made for everyone as a later dinner. While they set the table, the other person finally made a move and walked towards General Cross, taking the small children from him and gently laying them on the benches so that they could sit closest to the fire that had been brought for them. Shaking them lightly, the small boy and girl stirred, surprisingly not having been awoken from the loud alarms on their way into the kitchen.