A/N: Excellent! This might take a few chapters, by the way - around five, I think? I've written the whole thing, but I haven't counted... Hm.

Thank you to Miss Ming and Cutiepie120048 for reviewing!

Title: Loose Ends

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: Miranda/Marie

Genre: Tragedy

Warnings: Character death

Summary: After the end of the Holy War, CROW decides it no longer needs the exorcists. And CROW is nothing if not efficient. When a weapon is no longer needed - it gets put away.

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man.

March 3, 1875 - Mittenwald, Germany

Marie and Miranda lived in Germany. Marie worked odd jobs, while Miranda did her best to learn to repair things - something she'd always wanted to do, but never been very good at.

For some reason, it didn't seem as hard as she remembered.

"And then you slot that right in, there ya go," the old man, Dustin Hebenstreit, instructed, guiding Miranda through the motions.

Tongue sticking out slightly in concentration, Miranda slotted the last two pieces together and looked at Dustin hopefully. "Did I do it?" she asked, red bangle swaying on her wrist and clinking against the finished desk clock.

Dustin picked it up and considered it from all angles, and then nodded. "You did it," he confirmed gruffly, but there was a hint of pride to his voice, and Miranda beamed.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed happily, bouncing up to throw her arms around the old man. "Thank you so much!"

"Alright, alright," Dustin growled at her, halfheartedly pushing. "Don't get too far ahead of yourself. You've got a long ways to go before you can do this for a living."

Miranda nodded seriously and sat back down, eyes still shining with delight. "Okay. What now?"

It had been a challenge to find a place to settle, with restlessness driving them away from the rest of the Order and worry keeping them close, but Miranda loved it here – it was a small town without many people, but most of them were friendly and had received her and Noise extremely well.

And despite the distance, Allen had been very good about keeping everyone in contact, while Kanda had threatened Marie with murder if he wasn't invited to the wedding. (Miranda was pretty sure he was joking. Maybe. She'd been too busy blushing to decide, really, because even if she was hoping he would, Marie hadn't-)

She hadn't heard from Lenalee in a while, though.

Marie ducked in through the open door before Dustin could answer. "I heard something about a success?" he said more than asked, bestowing Miranda with a proud smile of his own. Miranda beamed back.

"I fixed the clock!" she told him, even knowing full well he'd heard everything. "I didn't mess up once, Noise!"

Marie gave her a broad grin and strode over to offer a proud squeeze with one arm across her shoulders. "Well done," he said, knowing how much this meant to her.

"Yes, yes," Dustin grumbled, before the pair could get too sappy. "Weren't you fixing my roof, Marie?"

Marie chuckled. "I'm almost finished," he promised. "I thought I'd come in to offer my congratulations." He straightened up. "Just give me a few more minutes."

And then he paused, frowning and tipping his head, one hand coming up to his ear automatically to listen more closely. Miranda stilled, eyes turning serious and wary; their alertness had died down a little since November and the end of the war, but both of them agreed that safe was better than sorry, and Marie still had his headphones.

Dustin, oblivious to all but Marie's sudden attentiveness, frowned at him. "Marie? What is it?"

"Something strange," he murmured vaguely. Still listening. "I-"

Two needles soared in through the open door. Both impaled themselves in Miranda's wrist before anyone could react, and she cried out, other hand darting to it quickly, scrambling to pull them out.

For a moment, both males stared at her dumbly. Then Marie whirled to face the door, the ringed fingers of his left hand stretching out threateningly.

"Who's there?" he demanded in a low, authoritative voice.

Two men, one with black hair and green eyes, the other with blond hair and blue eyes, entered through the door, and Dustin stood up, bristling angrily.

"Get out of my house!" he snapped. "What do you bumlickers think you're doing, attacking someone while they're in my home?"

The man with blond hair and blue eyes studied him pityingly for a long moment, and then, finally, said, "Lotto and Marie are wanted by CROW for reasons to which you are not privy. Hand them over peacefully and we'll leave you alone."

To his credit, Dustin barely reacted to the news that his two acquaintances were apparently wanted; he just scowled at the CROWs harder. He opened his mouth, but Marie spoke first.

"CROW," Marie greeted lowly, tugging Miranda behind him, a wrinkle in his brow as he faced the CROW. "What do you want? I believe the exorcists were released from the Vatican's control when the Holy War ended." As we were owed, he didn't say.

The blond's gaze cut away, a small frown decorating his face, but the black-haired man stepped forward with a slight sneer. He flicked his wrist, and a spell circle surrounded them and activated; they could no longer get out.

"Noise Marie," he identified, green eyes disdainful. "Combat exorcist, eleven years of experience, 83% synchro. Mentally stable, low risk." His gaze cut to Miranda, who took a step back, hand still clutching her wrist. "Miranda Lotto, non-combat exorcist, two years of experience, 94% synchro. High risk." He smiled coldly. "We at CROW have been ordered to exterminate you and your kind, for the safety of the real humans in the world."

Miranda gasped softly, and Marie gritted his teeth. Dustin, by contrast, took a step forward.

"You have no right!" he snapped harshly. "I may not know what you're talking about, but Marie and Lotto are no threat to anyone, and if you think otherwise then you're nothing but fools!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than did a needle sprout from his throat. His eyes widened, and he choked, one wrinkled old hand going up to feel the intrusion site.

Within moments, he'd turned blue and then purple, his knees folded, his eyes shut, and he died with nothing but a harsh wheeze.

Miranda paled sharply, but she didn't scream, just stared at the CROW, chest heaving, hands tight to her chest, the corners of her eyes strained in a half-glare. The blond wasn't looking at either of them, nor the body at the ground, but the green-eyed man met her gaze evenly, twirling another needle in his hand.

"I expect you've noticed by now that you can't activate," he said, almost conversationally, still twirling the needle gently. (She had, and it terrified her.) "One of the powers of these CROW needles, you see." His lips curled in a smirk. "We've been planning this a long time now." He glanced at his fellow, and his lip curled. "Samson. You're slacking."

Samson startled slightly, and then nodded sharply. A moment later, spell strips fell from his sleeves and shot to Marie, who had been attempting to subtly activate his Innocence.

But it was too late now; his hands were bound, and his glare returned.

"Who's still alive?" he asked, voice low, still as composed as ever, even in the face of certain death. His arm brushed against Miranda's, and while she could feel his tension, it helped keep her breath a little steadier.

"Almost all of them," Samson replied, eyes still gazing off to one side. His face was carefully neutral. "Lenalee Lee is dead." Miranda let out a whimper, eyes filling with tears, and Marie's face pinched as well, one arm going around Miranda to pull her close. "Kanda Yuu is our next target."

The girl who'd welcomed each exorcist with a smile and a promise of family, and the boy who'd used up every scrap of his life force defending his friends.

Marie let out a quiet growl, and the black-haired man scowled at his companion.

"They don't need to know this," he snapped at him. "They'll be dead soon anyway."

"Then it doesn't matter," Samson countered, voice indifferent.

"Hm." The black-haired man studied Samson, and then snorted and looked at them. His switchblade flicked out. "Let's wrap this up."

Marie took a deep breath, and Miranda's eyes widened, her breath leaving with nothing but a hitching, wordless whisper.

She wanted to say something, to say anything, to Marie, to Noise, but the words tangled up in her mind before they could even try to tumble from her mouth. She hadn't been ready. She had just stopped being ready.

Then she felt Marie press something into her hand. She glanced up, but he was still looking away, no answers to be found. Her wrapped around it automatically, and when she realized what it was, she felt like crying all over again. It was a ring.

"I love you," Marie murmured to her quietly. "I would have asked you to marry me."

Tears started to spill down Miranda's face. She was so scared. So scared for Noise. For her friends.

Her friends. She was never going to see her friends again.

She was never going to see Noise again.

"I love you, too, Noise," she whispered back, voice shaking. But she didn't move, her hand still clenched tight around that ring. "And I would have said yes."

How long, before all of them fell? How long did the others have?

The circle deactivated, and in unison, both the black-haired CROW and the CROW named Samson attacked.

Two switchblades slid between two pairs of ribs to puncture two hearts in unison.

Miranda's breath hitched, her eyelids slamming shut, but she couldn't summon the energy to react any more than that, to react to the sudden blinding pain in her chest, overshadowing every other feeling but Marie's warmth. A hollow ringing filled her ears, and the world tumbled.

Then, without her notice, she was on the ground. Blood pounded faintly in her ears below the ringing, and below that, Marie's harsh breathing was painfully loud, his tight grip on her arm starting to loosen.

"Noise," Miranda croaked, pressing her forehead into his shoulder. "Our friends…"

"I know," Marie rasped, and she heard his breath catch and choke. His hand clenched at her arm, and then fell.

Miranda whimpered quietly, and then the pain was too much for her, and the darkness rose up and swept her away, and she felt nothing. Nothing but cold.

The ring clattered out of her hand, a silver band set with tiny green emeralds.

I imagine Marie was carrying that ring around for a few months, at least. Heh... Oh, and normally my newer stories are on once-a-week updates, but that's just to keep me to a schedule. This one's already done, actually, so I'll be updating every few days or so. Thanks for reading, and please review!

Edited 9/26/16 - for details regarding mood and setting. I might not get through every chapter today, but Imma damn well try.