Hiya! Shadow's here with another Yullen fic (she really needs to stop with DGM for awhile and write some other fanfics, but she just can't HELP it). I had the strange idea of seeing Lenalee as someone on the Noah's side, and then I got the idea for this fic. I mean, seriously, if everyone we knew that was good (yes, Lavi is included, but that means some Lucky for you XD) was actually on the Millennium's side, just imagine the chaos between Allen and Kanda. Hehe . . .

Anyway, I'm going to stop rambling and get down to the actual fic. I really hope you enjoy this one, because it sounds really good in my mind. So let's get down to reading! Ahem, or in my case, writing.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man is fully the property of Katsura Hoshino. If I owned –man I would make myself a character so that our lovable Moyashi would be MINE.

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England was a lonely place. At least, anymore it was. It was hard to believe that a year ago, London had been full of bustling people, people anxious to get to their jobs or to go on a shopping spree. Now . . . now it was just a breeding ground for the Akuma.

Which was why Allen Walker had to be careful, or he would be caught by one of those bloodthirsty machines. He walked down the street with the hood of his winter coat pulled down firmly over his snowy head, eyes downcast. He stared firmly at his feet as they created countless footprints in the dirty snow. He had no idea how far he'd walked on this day, nor did he care to know. There were too many. More than that, his feet had gone numb hours ago. But he had nowhere to go; coming back to London was a bad idea. However, there was no doubt in his mind that he had to come back.

Because when Allen came to London a year ago to become a part of an Order against the Millennium Earl, he had discovered a fake. It was a trap, intended to catch the one and only person against the Earl's soon to be reign. He had found the "headquarters", only to see it infested with Akuma along with a very gleeful Road Camelot. Obviously, he had decided to retreat.

But now he wanted to come back to that place. While there had been an undeniable force of evil emanating from that tower, he'd also felt something else . . . a sense of what it might have been. Perhaps there really had been an Exorcist Headquarters there, before he was born. Before he was born into this dreadful, cursed world.

"Hey, Tim . . ." the boy sighed.

There was a soft rustling in the hood of the coat as a small golden golem peeked out, teeth sparkling like little—and sharp—diamonds. Allen had found the device not too long ago, in an old branch the Exorcists had used. He assumed it was something they had used for communicating, and it had intrigued him that they had that sort of technology available to them. Allen constantly wondered what the Exorcists must have been like. For all he knew, they could have been silly goons or serious people with no sense of humor. But he wouldn't have cared at this point.

At least he wouldn't have been alone in his cause.

Allen sighed and smiled up at the little golem as it waited expectantly for an explanation. "Do you think we'll find something there?"

The tiny thing's wings rose and fell, as if to shrug and say how should I know?

"I know, I know. There's only one way to find out. I just hope the Akuma aren't still using that place. I think Road knew I was going to be there last time. Someone planned that trap for me. But this time will be different."

Timcampy scooted back under Allen's hood, resting on the hidden snowy locks. Obviously, the little communicator didn't care. It didn't seem to be concerned with those things. But, on the plus side, at least Allen knew it listened to what he had to say. It understood him. Odd, yes, but satisfying. Especially for someone who hadn't been around more than two people in his entire life.

Allen chanced a quick look up, making sure to keep his gaze pointed directly forward. He had wrapped a scarf around everything but his eyes, leaving merely an upside down pentacle above his left eye. The Akuma were stupid; merely by seeing that, they wrongly assumed that he was one of them. However, he made sure his hair covered his right eye. No Akuma had silver eyes, that he was sure of. That was a rarity meant only for him.

The tower loomed ahead of him, set atop a large mountain. Allen couldn't help but to grimace when he remembered how long it took him to get to the top before, only to realize that there was a path leading up to it after all. But this time he knew better. He looked left and right swiftly, searching for any questing Akuma, before running forward towards the base of this mountain-like thing. Why this was in the middle of London, Allen had no idea. It amused him to no end. But he wasn't about to question why it was there. He was just glad it was.

"Tim," he murmured again. "I really do have a good feeling about this. Maybe we'll find something. Something to make our impossible dream possible."

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The trek to the entrance seemed to take so much less time than before. Perhaps it was because before, he'd been expecting a welcome from an organization that would aid his cause. This time, he knew it wasn't possible. Still, that didn't stop Allen Walker from being excited. If he came one step closer to defeating the Millennium Earl, he'd be the happiest boy alive. At that point and time, anyway. However, the rocks on the path were slippery with snow; obviously, they hadn't been used in a very long time. This dampened his spirits slightly. There wasn't someone up there. But perhaps there was something.

Allen was so focused on his thoughts that he did not realize when his foot trampled uncaringly over a particularly slippery step. With a soft curse, he fell, twisting his right ankle in the process. He slid several feet in the process, further away from the entrance to the tower. He lay, unmoving, in the snow for a few minutes, letting the pain wash over him. This was just great. He wouldn't put it past the Noah to attack him while he was wounded, if they found out. And that would be the end of the last remaining Exorcist for certain.

Something harshly bit his ear, and Allen winced before raising his hand up to clamp it over Timcampy. "I think I'm alright, Tim. Don't worry."

Very slowly, Allen got to his feet, holding onto a rock for balance. There was instantly pain in the right ankle, but it wasn't anything serious. At least, in his opinion. He'd gotten hurt more times than he could count in the past year alone. Still, that foot wasn't going to get him to the top of this path, not without assistance. There was an old stick on the side of the steps that looked sturdy enough. After a tense moment of leaning over while trying not to fall again, he managed to grab a hold of the temporary crutch. Achingly he made his way up to the tower again, much slower than before.

And now, just believe his luck: he was freezing his butt off. His coat was soaked from the fall, since there was snow all over the rocks. Allen cursed his bad luck as he painstakingly limped up step by step. Now he knew that one of the Noah was going to be up there to finish him off. "Tim," he managed through chattering teeth. "Be on the lookout for me. I can't see anything but my own feet right now."

He felt a bob on his head that signified Tim's approval. He got steadily colder by the minute, and when he held out his free hand, he realized that it was snowing again. It might even be beginning to storm; he had known it would. He had to put aside his injury for getting into the tower; he would at least be safe from the weather then. He threw the stick to the ground and began to hobble swiftly over the steps, taking them two or three at a time as he did. His ankle would suffer worse, but at least he wouldn't die of frost bite or something.

The opening of the tower was nothing more than the skeletal mouth of a long dead monster. There was no door. For all Allen knew, the place could have been raided by more than just Akuma. But at the moment, that didn't matter. Allen scrambled forward, nearly tripping on the pained foot once more, making it inside as the storm really began to hit. He slid slowly to the floor as he stared outside, unable to see past a few meters thanks to the falling snow. "Well," he said to Timcampy. "At least we made it in time."

Very slowly, Allen turned his attention from the blustery weather to the inside of the tower. Before, when Road had tricked him, he hadn't even gotten inside before he was attacked. This time, he was going to have a look around, since obviously there wasn't an enemy here. His eye wasn't acting up at all.

It was pointless to try walking on that foot at the moment, so he crawled. Momentarily he thought about using Clown Belt to pull him down the hall, but he was hungry and he hadn't eaten in awhile, nor did he know when he would be able to eat again. He didn't even want to think about getting back down from the tower in this state. Instead, he crept his way further into this mystery of an old Exorcist headquarters, eyes flickering around in curiosity.

This was definitely the place where Exorcists used to reside. There were signs all over the place, like the smell of leather from the uniforms they used to wear. He passed by a room with the door ripped off of its hinges, paper strewn about the room. The scientists' lab, he was sure. There was another room down the hall that might have been a storeroom or a bedroom. And . . .

There were skeletons.

Surely this was the last place the Noah had destroyed before there were no more Exorcists. Unlike the other branches he had found, the decayed bodies here were still intact. The ones that hadn't been shot by an Akuma, anyway. He even saw one body on the side of the hall with the outfit still intact . . . one missing the bones of their right hand. Allen grimaced and pulled his own left arm closer to him. Was that where that person's innocence had been?

He didn't want to think about it, that was for sure.

That was it . . . Allen couldn't crawl anymore. He was tired, he was hungry, and his right foot was killing him, not to mention he was still shuddering with the cold in his limbs. He'd seen enough to know that this was a place he would learn things from. Now, if only he could get some food and sleep. The food was a wistful dream, but if he found an old bed or something, he would be content. He didn't even care if he was going to sleep in a dead man's bed.

Timcampy started fluttering around his face, momentarily distracting him from his mission. "Tim," he complained angrily. "Stop it. I can't see."

But Tim refused to stop flying around the snowy-haired boy in a panic, and finally, Allen had to stop crawling in order to snatch the tiny golem out of the air. As he did, he sat on his ankle, which hurt a lot worse than a slight sprain should. He moaned softly, hand clenching into a fist on his wet pants.

Slowly, Allen brought his foot forward to stare at it. The ankle was swollen and barely let him slip his boot off. Perhaps it was the cold that had numbed the limb when he'd fallen, but now Allen could see that this was no mere twist. He'd somehow managed to break it. "Great . . . just great," he sighed, slumping forward. "They'll get me for sure now."

Unfortunately, Allen was so focused on his newest injury that he didn't notice what was coming towards him. Had he paid more attention, he might have realized just why Timcampy had been acting like a wasp about to sting him. As it was, the shadow that crept over his smaller form was the only thing that got his attention. He looked up slowly, eyes widening as . . .

"Che. What the hell is an Akuma doing wandering in here?"

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Haha, take a guess at who that is. XD

A couple notes about the story: One, if you noticed I said that Allen has been injured in the past year, implying that this takes place a year after the real DGM starts. Allen is sixteen. Also, Allen's arm is already at Crown Clown, because I just like it better that way. :D

I hope you enjoyed this! And reviews give me inspiration, so don't be afraid to say what's on your mind about it!

~Shadow