A/N: This is my first fanfic. This is a story I thought of when I was supposed to be sleeping one night. I'm still not sure of the title, so it may change in the future. I don't think it flows right. Anyhow, this has a couple of OC's and possible lemons in future chapters so I am making it M in case.
The Bookman's Mark
Chapter 1
Koumi rested his head in his hands. He ran through the plan in his mind once again. He hoped that there were no holes in the carefully constructed mission. Four years of blood sweat and tears went into this mission. He wondered if it was even worth it at this point, how could he know if they were still alive?
Everyone had their role, everyone from the finders to the few remaining exorcists. He was thankful that Miranda had found a new skill, the ability to open a small portal to the future. Her new Time Record ability had given them some new recruits, in a manner of speaking. Two of them seemed to show a lot of promise. Helena had innocence that granted invisibility and her daughter Catherine appeared to be the new accommodator of Judgment, at 8 years old though, she was kept back at the order.
He grabbed his favorite mug and noticed once again it was empty. He sighed and weighed the merits of going to go get another cup of joe. In the end, he just continued sitting at his desk and silently praying for the safe return of his team and both Bookmen.
Helena was focused. Well, she would be if her hair would stay out of her face. That is one thing she missed about the 21st century; styling products. They were hidden in one of the Noah's hideouts; the one that they believed held 2 prisoner exorcists. She was there with Lenalee, Choaji, Krory and Miranda. All of them looked like they knew what they were doing; they also looked as if they fit. She felt a bit out of place sometimes, her being the only blond besides Catherine, and her being as pale as a ghost. Even Catherine had some coloring, not Helena. In her time, her ex was forever begging her to dye her hair black so she would look goth.
The mission was simple, find the prisoners, free them and get the hell out. Her job was to hide Choaji while he carried the 2 away and back to the Ark. Everyone else was to be back-up and diversion if the need arose. She told Koumi the only way she would agree to this was if Catherine was not to participate. She realized her daughter had a long dangerous road ahead of her, but she was not willing to throw her only child straight into the arms of the enemy.
"Helena, you ready?" Choaji whispered.
She merely nodded and twisted the pin on her cloak to activate her innocence. She put her hand on his shoulder and they both faded into the background. They both moved swiftly through the passages. They had memorized the layouts of this dungeon long ago. Helena chose not to question where the Order obtained this intel; she didn't want to think of the lives that were probably already lost in this mission.
After the 3rd turn they came upon a huge open room with 2 chairs that were occupied by what looked like a pile of dirty clothes, one of them had a shock of red poking out. Choaji turned and looked at Helena and jerked his head in the direction of the chairs. She figured those must be Bookman and Lavi that Lenalee had spoken so fondly of. Helena kept her hand on the strong man's shoulder as they eased their way to the chairs. As they got closer, the chains and dried blood became more evident. She felt sick to think of what the Noah's were doing to them.
They arrived at the chairs and Choaji started on the chains of what looked like an old man. It drove Helena nuts that her only job was to stand there with her hand on his shoulder while he did all the work. As she was standing there, she heard a soft moan and noticed the red that she couldn't identify was actually hair and that the head attached to it started to move. The red head continued to moan and it seemed that he was trying to get out of his own chains. Helena saw an eye patch over one of his eyes, and wondered what he looked like under all the dirt and blood that smeared his face. Lenalee never mentioned how old he was, but to Helena he looked no older then a teenager. Open your eye, I want to see. She had no idea where that thought came from. Are you kidding, you are an old lady compared to this kid.
"Take it easy Lavi, I almost have Bookman out and then it will be your turn." Choaji whispered to the red head.
Choaji continued prying the chains off of them while Helena scanned their surroundings. She could not believe that there were no akuma, or Noah or anything guarding these guys. But, she reasoned, they've had them for 4 years; maybe they figure the Order abandoned them. Choaji hefted the old man over one shoulder and Lavi over the other so Helena had to adjust her hold. She had her hand on Choaji's back, but then Lavi's hand shot up and grabbed her other hand, when he did, he let out a contented sigh and fell asleep.
Helena was startled and almost lost her concentration, but recovered before the 4 of them were exposed to everything. Later, she thought, I will figure out what just happened later.
They back-tracked the route they were on before and in what seemed like no time, they rejoined the others. Lenalee and Miranda were close to tears when they saw who they brought and Krory just buried his head in his cape.
"A-are they alive?" Miranda asked meekly.
"I think so, but we must get them to the Ark and the order right away" Choaji grunted.
Helena now had to focus on covering the whole crew. They were all huddled as close as possible so the area she had to keep hidden was smaller, but it was still a challenge. It was also no small feat that they all stayed connected through touch; that was the only way she could hide them all. When they neared the Ark, she felt her strength begin to waiver, and Krory picked her up to make sure their pace did not slow.
All this time, Lavi's hand grasped onto Helena's like a man cast to sea holding onto a bit of driftwood.
