Impossibility #3: The Vatican Not Interfering

These were all the facts about Allen that the Black Order knew:

1) Allen lived alone in a small house about a fifteen-minute walk away from the Order. Despite this, he only really returned home on weekends, as most of the time he preferred to sleep in one of the rooms at the Order.

2) His master was Marian Cross, a veteran member of the Order who was more elusive than the spirits he hunted and twice the trouble. This was, unfortunately, a dead end, as it was more likely that you would discover a flying pig than find Cross.

3) Allen once had a father named Mana. He was a more literal dead end.

4) His birthday was on Christmas, although he was reluctant to celebrate it in any way.

5) His favourite food was mitarashi dango, a type of dumpling with a sweet soy sauce glaze, though he was also partial to other types of sweets (and food in general. He acted like he had six stomachs when it came to eating).

And lastly:

6) Allen was cursed.

The more they thought about it, the less, they realised, they knew about Allen. He had a way of deflecting private questions back onto the person asking, it was an impressive skill, but it really did seem that he was too good at it.

This was all the information Lenalee and Lavi had managed to collect from all the members of the Black Order over the course of two days. It was a meagre amount, and nothing that Lavi and Lenalee didn't already know. There was no hidden clue, no missing puzzle piece that would click and lead them to a secret location where he was hiding, just a worrying amount of useless facts. After two days, they were still no closer to finding Allen.

On the third day since Allen had been discovered missing, Lenalee and Lavi walked into the Black Order after meeting for coffee at a Costa to recap on what they knew about Allen's disappearance, and discuss theories that grew wilder the more time that passed.

Immediately, they could tell something was off.

Instead of rushing straight to his sister to encompass her in a hug (it often seemed like he had an extra sense just to tell him when Lenalee was close by), Komui was nowhere to be seen. Looking around, there were no other members strolling about the corridors, they were empty as far as the eye could see.

Feeling apprehensive, Lenalee and Lavi exchanged puzzled glances, worried creases marking their faces. "Where is everyone?" Lavi asked, tilting his head like a confused puppy. "I mean, I know I'm scary, but this is kind of ridiculous," he joked lightly.

Lenalee shook her head. "I-I'm not sure," she replied, sounding just as uncertain, "Let's go find brother – I'm sure he'll know what's happening."

Lavi nodded in agreement, and they both made their way to Komui's office, Lavi making sure to stick close to Lenalee, playing his part of the easily frightened joker well. Lenalee noticed his fear, smiling to herself at the comfortable familiarity of the situation. Lavi was her most common partner when she was sent out on missions, despite having known Kanda longer, and it was a common sight to see him flinch away from scenes that retained any similarities to horror movies (however strange that was, considering he worked at a supernatural investigation organisation).

Upon reaching Komui's office, it became abundantly clear where everyone had gone. There was a large crowd positioned outside Komui's door, ears pressed tightly against the wood. Johnnie, one of the scientists that worked at the Order, was trying to no avail to disperse the crowd.

"Johnnie!" Lavi cried out when he spotted him, "What's going on?"

Johnnie let out a sigh of relief upon spotting Lavi and Lenalee approaching, and waved them over desperately. "Bookman's already inside," he informed Lavi hurriedly, "I can't get anyone to leave."

"Wait. What's happening, Johnnie?" Lenalee asked, placating, gripping his shoulders in an attempt to calm him.

Stopping abruptly, Johnnie looked at her surprised. "You don't know?"

"We just got here."

Johnnie blinked as the realisation hit him, "Oh!" he said simply, "The Vatican's here." He paused. "Not the whole Vatican, of course - just a representative," he stammered, stumbling over his words.

Both Lenalee and Lavi froze when they heard his words. "The Vatican?" They asked in unison.

"And Gramps is already in there?" Lavi continued.

Johnnie nodded quickly.

Sharing a glance, Lenalee and Lavi gently pushed their way to the front of the crowd and pushed open the door, ignoring the members who fell to the floor when the door they were leaning on suddenly moved beneath them.

Inside, Komui was sitting behind his desk, Reever standing behind him, both looking more serious than Lenalee had seen them before. Kanda was already there, standing in the corner he always stood in, arms crossed and eyes shut in annoyance, Bookman stood parallel to him, on the opposite side of the room, hunched over, his face telling nothing.

Before Komui's desk was an average height blond man, dressed smartly, a grey blazar, and smart trousers, but it was difficult to tell from the back. His hair was long, although not longer than Kanda's, reaching down to the middle of his back, but braided neatly. In his hand was a small briefcase, shiny and black, looking brand new just as the rest of him did, no scuffs or marks.

He turned around when Lenalee and Lavi burst in – not surprised or startled, his face unflinching despite the sudden intrusion and the pile of employees now splayed out uselessly on the floor of Komui's office. Now he was facing them, they could see his face clearly, dark eyes and his mouth in a stern flat line. His eyebrows were peculiarly forked at the ends and he had two vertical black dots between his eyebrows.

They could also clearly see the Vatican's coat-of-arms embroidered on the breast of his blazar with bold gold thread.

"This must be your sister and the Bookman's Apprentice," he said to Komui, without sparing him a glance. His voice was neat, each word pronounced carefully and clearly, loud enough to be heard across the room, but not to the point of obnoxiousness.

Komui nodded, shooting a fierce look at the members still on the floor, who were staring up at the stranger in fascination, as though he were a newly discovered species. Catching Komui's stare, they cautiously crawled backwards out of the room, keeping their eyes on the blond man, as though hoping he couldn't see them, until they shut the door after them.

"Lenalee, Lavi," Komui greeted them, keeping up a professional façade, "This is Howard Link. The Vatican sent him, like they said they would when they phoned me earlier this week. You remember me telling you about that, right?" He prompted, the tone in his voice telling them to agree.

"Oh, right!" Lavi spoke up loudly, "Yep, it's all coming back now." He inched towards Bookman, as though he could hide behind the four-foot man.

"That's right," Lenalee followed up, sparing Lavi from embarrassment, "We were anticipating your arrival, Mr Link."

Link gave Komui's office a once-over, blatantly noting the sheaves of paper scattered on the floor which Komui still hadn't cleaned up. "Pardon me if I couldn't tell," he said drily. "And it's Inspector Link, not Mr," he corrected, bemused.

Laughing awkwardly, Lenalee sheepishly retreated to Kanda's side, scratching her cheek to hide the embarrassment she felt on her brother's behalf.

"Moving on," Link continued, tone unchanging, "You came at the perfect time – I was just about to explain the Vatican's decision to send me here, as it appears that they didn't tell Chief Komui over the phone."

"Yes, well," Komui spoke up, trying to clutch onto any scraps of professionalism he still had, "they said they were very busy, so they couldn't explain it right that moment, and that you would fill in the gaps when you arrived." It was clearly a lie, but Link either didn't notice or didn't care as he made no remark on it, despite Kanda sending a rather obvious, scathing scowl in Komui's direction.

"It's not a particularly complicated matter." Link nodded, brushing some invisible dirt off his blazar. "Simply put; I was sent here because of the lack of progress reports from Chief Komui. As per the pact between the Vatican and the Black Order, we send you blessed weapons and holy water on a regular shipment once every two weeks, and, in return, you send us frequent updates informing us what you used, what creatures you killed or caught, and where you go on each mission.

"Chief Komui has been neglecting this duty, and, despite multiple warnings, we have only received three reports from him in the past four months," Link said curtly, clasping his hands together like a businessman would.

"Oh my God," Reever sighed, massaging his temples. He helpfully biffed Komui over the head, as though it would knock some sense into the man.

"Brother," Lenalee whined pleadingly, "We've been reminding you at the end of every week to send a progress update. Why didn't you send any?"

Clearing his throat, Komui floundered to stitch together a feasible excuse, "They must have gotten lost in the post." He weakly voiced.

Kanda snorted.

"It doesn't matter now," Link brusquely continued, his voice colder than the Antarctic. "It was either send me to submit the reports in your stead, or cease all further business with the Order. This was the preferred option." He paused, waiting for any questions or objections, but no one was willing to talk to him or even look in his direction.

Satisfied with his explanation, he asked, "Do you mind directing me to a spare room I could use?"

Komui hummed in the back of his throat. "I'm sure we have one - although, it is that time of year where we get an influx of members. I'll get Johnny to find one for you." He waited a moment, as though he was about to say something more, then decided against it. "Johnny!" He called through the doors. It wasn't the loudest shout he could muster, rather, a half-hearted attempt, as if unbothered by what the outcome would be.

In spite of the lack of volume, almost immediately, Johnny poked his head through the door. He didn't need to be told what to do, as he politely led Link out of the room to show him to the spare bedrooms.

The moment they had shut the door behind them, everyone left in the room pounced on Komui, and there was a cacophony of ruthless questions and insults directed his way. In a futile attempt to regain control of the situation, Komui waved his hands in, what he hoped, was a calming motion.

"Ok! Ok! I get it!" He managed to raise his voice above the noise. "It's all my fault. If I had only been a better supervisor to you all, then we wouldn't be in this situation. I know. I thought I'd been sending them enough reports that they wouldn't feel the need to interfere, but to think they would go to such lengths." He sighed heavily, twirling a pen between his fingers, clicking it loudly.

Running a hand through his hair, Lavi swore under his breath. The Bookman stood stoically beside him, saying nothing, his black eyes following everyone. "This couldn't have come at a worse time," Lavi muttered, his agitation clear on his face.

"Once they find out Allen's missing." Lenalee trailed off, dread pooling in her stomach like greasy oil.

"They might think he's gone rogue." Reever finished for her.

Rogue exorcists were dealt with swiftly by the Order, considered as complete traitors who had denounced their humanity. After all, if you had the ability to help save people form the things that went bump in the night, you should have no reason not to want to. It was just a basic duty as a human. The Vatican was even less lenient with rogues. They considered exorcists as being blessed by God, and turning your back on the Order was the equivalent to turning your back on God. As such, there could be no redemption for your soul. Rogues were no longer thought of as human, and so, were to be treated no differently than any other supernatural entity. It was unpleasant, but the Order didn't have as much independence as they liked to pretend, and had almost no say when it came to abiding the Vatican's rules, if they lost ties with the Vatican, then they would lose most of their supplies and funding, and the Order would, in all likelihood, shut down.

"Or," Komui said, more hopefully, "They might label him as MIA, and send out a search team for him."

"We all know there's no chance in hell they'd do that. The only thing the Vatican hates more than the supernatural, are rogue exorcists." Kanda cut in brusquely.

"They might. It's only been his first transgression in the past few years he's been here. And if we factor in the mark on his wall, then we could make the case that he was attacked in his home and fled." Komui said optimistically, although it was clear he was saying this more to Lenalee than anyone else in the room

"I think it would be better if we lied and told them Allen's on a mission with Cross, for now," Reever suggested.

"I'll tell everyone else to keep quiet about it too," Lenalee said softly, "but we should try to find him quickly if we don't want the Vatican to find out."

Komui nodded, leaning back in his chair. "Before you do that, I do have a mission for you, Kanda and Lavi."

"You do?" Lavi asked, his brow creasing to form a light frown, "Since when?"

"Since this morning. We got a call at six - just before Link arrived - from a school about an hour away."

"A school?"

"Yep. Seems like it's just a poltergeist, but I feel like there's something more to it, so to be in the safe side I'm sending all three of you. The school waited a while before calling us, so I don't know how long it's been lingering there."

Kanda rolled his eyes at the prospect of a simple poltergeist exorcism needing more than one person. It was basic stuff. The kind of mission you would send completely new exorcist on. The idea that three exorcists, each with years of experience under their belts, would be dispatched, was ludicrous, to say the least. "What do you mean, 'you feel something more to it'?" He asked suspiciously.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Komui took a moment to reply. "The way the school described the poltergeist was…strange. They said it had attacked a student."

"So, what? Poltergeists can pick up and throw objects, and they've been recorded throwing things at people. I don't see how that's strange," Lavi said sceptically, raising an eyebrow.

"That's the thing. The poltergeist didn't use any medium- it physically attacked a student by itself, as though it was solid."

"That's not possible." Lavi bluntly denied, shaking his head vigorously, "They must have missed something. There's no way that a poltergeist would be able to physically interact with a human – it would require insane amounts of power."

Beside him, Bookman hummed, pondering the idea, narrowing his eyes dangerously at Lavi. "Don't be so quick to dismiss the possibility. You're in an institute that deals with impossibilities every day – don't narrow your mind to what you think should be."

Lavi shrunk back at the reprimand, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Then they would have to be getting that kind of power from another source, right?"

"If the story is true, then, most likely." Bookman confirmed. His thin lips whitened as he pursed them tightly together.

"All the more reason to send the three of you as a group," Komui said, clapping his hands loudly, convinced that he was making the right choice based on Bookman's apparent agreement.

Still unconvinced, Kanda remained scowling, looking ready to walk out of the room at any moment, and his hand lay on Mugen's hilt. "What time are we leaving?"

"It's a small town, so you're taking the car. I told the school you would be there between ten and twelve, which gives you an hour or two to get ready."

Curtly nodding, Kanda turned on his heel, leaving the room, head held high and ponytail swishing behind him in graceful arcs. He left the door open behind him, footsteps echoing as he walked down the corridor, away from them.

Lavi groaned, waving his arms dramatically. "It's way too early for this, and I haven't even had breakfast yet." He teetered backwards, making a display of himself as he wrapped his arms around his stomach to demonstrate his hunger.

Rolling her eyes jokingly, Lenalee smiled at Komui, playing along. "I better take Lavi to get some food, else he might just die from hunger." She lightly tugged Lavi by the arm to drag him out the room. "Come on, you drama queen. Let's go see what Jerri can whip up for us."

Letting her pull him to the cafeteria, Lavi grinned widely. It had been a while since they had joked around like this. Since Allen had gone missing it had been increasingly harder to keep smiling, and with Link's arrival he wasn't sure how much longer they would be able to keep joking. His presence alone seemed to be a damper, with his serious attitude and no-nonsense appearance and the heavy knowledge that he would be reporting everything he saw to the Vatican.

Komui's branch of the Order wasn't exactly the strictest in adhering to the Vatican's rules. Komui's fascination with mixing the supernatural with science led to some less than ideal scenarios where resources were used in excess to keep the fruits of his labour from destroying the building. In addition, he was particularly lenient about letting the exorcists have their own lives outside of the Order, allowing them to live in houses and flats nearby, only calling them in for training and missions.

It was better than in other branches, where exorcists were made to live in the building, not even allowed to finish their education in cases where the exorcist was young. It was scary to think about how dependent on the Order those people were, without the skills necessary to create a life outside of the Order and Vatican. It was probably what the Order wanted – to trap them so they couldn't escape.

With Link around, everyone would have to hedge their words and be on constant guard to ensure they didn't let any information escape. If Link found out about the amount of freedom the European Branch gave its workers, he would undoubtedly report it to the Vatican and Komui might be demoted, replaced with someone the Vatican trusted to obey them without hesitation. Lavi knew he would have to tell everyone not to go home for a little bit, until Link was satisfied and returned to the Vatican. That would also mean that they would all have to be on their best behaviour, including completing their missions quickly and writing up concise reports on everything that had occurred.

Lavi hated writing reports.

It had only been three days since Allen had disappeared, and things were already going rapidly downhill. It was a shame, because he really could have done with Allen's borderline Stepford smiling. Even if it was fake, Lavi had found comfort in the knowledge that Allen's polite smiles would be a constant. Except, he supposed it wasn't, seeing how Allen was nowhere to be found.

There had been something relaxing about walking into the Order in the morning and finding Allen with a pile of food in front of him and a perfect greeting ready.

Despite Kanda's reluctance to admit it, Lavi knew he also missed Allen. Allen had never been afraid to confront Kanda, and heir sparring had given Kanda an outlet for the frustration that built in him from the daily grind of the Order.

He hoped no one would reveal the truth to Link about Allen's absence, or they might never have those everyday normalcies again.

Wow, I did it, mum and dad, proud of me yet? I'm not actually a failure after all, it was all an elaborate bamboozle. Now I've made it to three whole chapters, I've finally proven my worth. What an achievement. And who knows, I might even finish this fic one day, wouldn't that be a feat?

For now, though, I'll just sleep and dream of that day. Goodnight everyone, because it is late where I am, and I am most definitely not a night person.

By the way, if you guys have any constructive criticism for me. Any at all. It is welcome. I am more open than a broken window when it comes to that shit.