I get the feeling this is very late...

Anyhoo, here we go! I actually really like this chapter, a lot. I'm kind of proud of it. Actually, I lied. I hate this chapter, it's too rushed and choppy. Like, it starts out rushed, then it becomes well thought out. Then rushed again, then well thought out. And I neglected Allen for a good portion of it. Oh well. Without further ado...

*Disclaimer

Lavi has not been seen in an unacceptable amount of manga chapters. Clearly, I do not own D. Gray-man.

Chapter Three

Silence fell in the woman's infirmary of the Black Order.

Leverrier stared up at the woman pinning him with disbelief and anger, his face red and purple with indignation and rage.

Komui stared at the carbon copy of his darling sister in confusion and panic, wondering if someone had cloned her when he wasn't looking.

Allen looked at the woman while clutching his aching head, wonder if he'd fainted and was now dreaming or if he was simply hallucinating.

Lenalee's hand covered her open mouth in shock. She stared up at the woman standing before her with a wide grin on her face and purple eyes dancing in delight. Her Innocence. Here. Talking to her.

The four members of the Black Order continued staring at the woman with anger, confusion, scepticism, and shock. Her gaze, however was trained solely on Lenalee, staring at the girl with warmth and a fiery light that reminded Lenalee of the look Komui got in his eyes whenever it seemed like someone was flirting with her. Lenalee slowly removed the hand from her mouth, lip quivering as she struggled to form the words that would create the question hanging over them like a guillotine.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON?"

The Innocence's gaze flickered down to the man pinned beneath her, jumping off of him and landing as light as a feather as he bullied his way to his feet.

"Such language is not appreciated, Malcolm C. Leverrier," she said cruelly, looking at the man clutching his aching chest with narrowed and contempt filled eyes. "I thought your family was more dignified than that."

Komui blinked, startled at this comment, wondering how this strange woman knew of the Leverrier legacy. While the Inspectore sometimes used it to pull rank, not many knew just what the LEverrier named entailed. This woman's tone and face left no room for doubt. She knew everything. EVERYTHING. You could tell by just looking up at her dark purple eyes. Who was she?

His eyes widened as he remembered what Lenalee had said minutes earlier.

The Dark Boots...

"Who the hell do you think you are," spat Leverrier, not appreciating the comment. "And how dare you attack a member of the Vatican such as myself. Do you know what you've done you insignificant wretch?" he snarled.

The woman's eyes were flat, the violet colour turning an even deeper, more other-worldly purple. Lenalee gasped and her hands flew to her chest as a strange feeling began rising within her, making her shake. Allen groaned and lay back against the wall, clutching his head and deciding to just ignore his surroundings; it was all a hallucination anyways.

The woman stalked towards the Inspector a dangerous aura surrounding her and sending a stifling and dangerous atmosphere. In a smooth movement, she hauled Leverrier up by his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"Malcolm C. Leverrier," she said cooly, "You have caused my Lenalee much pain over the years." The man's eyes bugged out and he struggled to hiss out a threat.

"It is time," continued the woman, "For you to atone for your sins." She shifted her grip from his shirt to his neck, causing both Komui and Lenalee to gasp in horror.

"Wait!" cried Lenalee, "You can't just kill him!"

"Miss...whoever you are. Please, wait, you are assaulting a high standing member of the Vatican..." said Komui weakly, realizing with one look that this woman wouldn't be stopped unless she wanted to.

She wasn't human.

From her purple eyes to her lean arms and iron grip, she wasn't human. She wore the form of his Lenalee, but she wasn't. Oh, how she wasn't. She wasn't his Lenalee, and it hurt to look at this not-human woman, and see his darling sister there. And worse, to hear this woman contantly refer to his Lenalee as her Lenalee. This woman, who was not human, whose eyes showed no human compassion, whose legs wore Lenalee Innocence. This woman, who was Lenalee's Innocence.

Of that, Komui was certain. As she turned to look at the scientist, contempt plain in her purple eyes, he could see the boots in her face, the boots in the way she held herself, the way her grip was relentless and strong, and how fast she moved, and how willing she was to call Lenalee hers.

The Dark Boots.

Standing before him.

"You wish for me to release this man?" said the Dark Boots, looking indifferent, but with a note of surprise in her voice. "This man who has hurt your sister so? Do you not wish to punish the man who has been so cruel to my Lenalee? Your beloved sister?"

Komui tensed as some part of him agreed with the words, wanted the horrible snake-eyed man to be punished for all that he had put his sister through, but he couldn't. It was at times like these that Komui had to be the Chief Officer first, and big brother second.

"Revenge and retribution never solve anything," he said sternly, "And he is a superior member of our order. And-," Komui's eyes flashed and his cheeks coloured with suppressed rage, "She is not your Lenalee."

The Dark Boots seemed amused by this comment, eyebrow raised and a small smile playing about her lips. "Isn't she?" she mused, turning to look at her young counterpart with sparkling purple eyes.

"No she's not," growled Komui. The Dark Boots ignored him, keeping her gaze on the young sixteen-year-old in front of her. Lenalee seemed aware of the eyes on her, but she was more concerned with how blue in the face the Inspector was. Lenalee didn't like him. She was terrified of him, and always would be, but hate didn't come to the gentle Chinese girl naturally, and as much as she claimed to hate God and the Akuma, it was never the hotblooded hate that could allow her to kill a person, or have that person killed in front of her. The Inspector had tortured her, it was true, and it had been in the name of a God Lenalee hated, but it didn't make him an evil person, per se, and it didn't mean he deserved to be murdered.

"Miss...please...D-Dark Boots," whispered Lenalee, barely able to get out those words, to acknowledge that this woman before her was truly her Innocence. The woman in question smiled, a smile that looked more seductive than anything, but with a fair bit of warmth in it. "Lenalee!" she said almost gleefully, an unnerving sentiment to watch being displayed, as she was exuding the emotion while choking a man to death with one hand. "It is so wonderful, to be able to talk to you. Are you alright? You were in pain, those filthy Akuma...I think, I am to blame as well, for that head ache you had. But it's gone right? You're okay now? Lenalee?" said the Dark Boots, babbling in a way that one wouldn't expect from the high way she carried herself, and staring at Lenalee in expectation, thrilled that the girl was talking to her, and desperately wanting to continue their conversation. Like a Mother whose teenage daughter has been pushing her away for years, and finally starts a conversation with them out of the blue. The Mother, overjoyed, grasps at the interaction frantically. The Dark Boots seemed to symbolize the Mother, overjoyed, and losing her cool demeanour as soon as Lenalee's attention was on her.

Lenalee seemed to notice the woman's eager smile and gaze, and she felt a prickling of guilt for not responding accordingly, but she pressed on with her request, nonetheless.

"Dark Boots..." said the Chinese girl, her voice gaining confidence as she began to accept that, yes, this was her Innocence she was talking to. "Dark Boots...please release Mr. Leverrier."

The Dark Boot's smile dropped from her face instantaneously, and she stared at her Accommodator, apparently stunned. She looked at Lenalee blankly for a few seconds before, tightening her hold on the barely conscious man and hissing: "Why?"

Lenalee winced at the betrayal and confusion in the woman's voice, feeling the hot and rancid feeling sitting like a weight on her own chest.

"Because...because killing solves nothing. And he has...done nothing wrong. The...the things...the things he did to me were to stop me from leaving. Exorcists and Accomodators are important...they are the only ones who can stand up to the Earl...he was doing his job as a member of the Vatican. You can't kill him because of it," she said quietly, the pain she felt at the statement she had just uttered plain in her low tone of voice and shaking body. She hated herself for the words. Hated having to utter them. Hated that some part of her knew they were true, and the other revolted against it. Revolted that the torture of a little girl could be accepted as necessary for survival. But she didn't take back her statement. She stayed sitting there, looking up at her Innocence and pleading with her eyes for her to stop killing the Inspector.

The Dark Boots stared at her, betrayal replaced by a calculating look in the purple eyes. Her flustered, over zealous demeanour had disappeared, replaced by the cool, inhuman aura from before. She turned away from Lenalee to stare back at the man she had clutched in her iron grip.

He had long since stopped clawing futilely at her hands, and hung limply from her gasp, face red and purple. The Dark Boots could hear his erratic heartbeat, beating wildly for a time, but beginning to slow. He was dying.

And her Lenalee didn't want that.

The Dark Boots slackened her grip on Leverrier's throat, allowing air to rush through the freed airway and causing the man to let out a little gasp. Both Lenalee and Komui sighed in relief.

The Dark Boots eyes narrowed her eyes and, without warning, pressed her fingers against a certain spot on the Inspector's neck. The man stiffened, eyes rolling back in his head, before going completely limp. Satisfied, the Innocence allowed the man to slide down to the floor, stretching her hand back and forth as she did.

"Wh-what did you do!" stammered Komui, looking at Leverrier's fallen form with concern, but not making a move to help the man. A sinking feeling filled Lenalee's stomach. "Y-you didn't..."

"I didn't," grunted the Innocence, as if it pained her to admit that she hadn't done away with him when she had the chance, "He is merely unconscious. I do not wish to deal with him at this moment. If I had to be in the same vicinity as him when he was conscious, I would surely kill him, and that would upset my Lenalee," she said, eyes lidded as she stared at the fallen man with contempt. She then turned to smile at Lenalee again, eyes shining.

Komui stiffened. There was that possessiveness again. The scientist opened his mouth, prepared to engage the Innocence in a verbal battle to decide just whose Lenalee it was, when he was alerted by a panicked shout from Lenalee.

"Allen!" cried the green-haired girl worriedly, rushing to the boy's side. Allen was still slumped against the wall, eyes closed and cheeks flushed, sweat beading on his forehead. He cracked one eye open, looking up slowly at the frantic Chinese girl leaning over him.

"Ah...Lenalee...I'm fine, really. My head is just really hurting. And I thought I saw...I was hallucinating a bit, so I decided to close my eyes for a bit. I'm okay, I might head back to the infirmary...after lunch...wait. Is Leverrier still here? Um...because that woman...wait...she wasn't real..."

Lenalee sweatdropped, Komui fumed at how close his beloved sister was to the teenage boy, and the Dark Boots stared at Allen with a mixture of contempt, anger, and disgust. She walked quickly to where the two teens were and-more gently than seemed possible for the cold woman-pulled Lenalee away from the white-haired teen. Allen's eyes widened and he moaned before closing them again. "Still with the two Lenalees," he muttered sluggishly, "Maybe I really should go back to the infirmary..."

"You should leave this place altogether," snarled the Dark Boots, "Child of Noah."

Allen's eyes snapped open and his head jerked upward, sending pain through his body. He ignored it, instead staring at the woman before him with fury, not caring if she was real or not because he was so damn tired of being called out on the fact that he had unwanted memories in his head and it wasn't his fault and he'd be damned if he ever let that damn Noah take over and he was so tired of people bringing it up because he could handle it damn it!

"I don't know who you are," he hissed. "But I'm an Exorcist. And I always will be. I am not a child of Noah, I'm an Accommodator of God!" he snapped, before clutching his head with his right hand and leaning back against the wall, teeth gritted in pain.

"An Accommodator," growled the Dark Boots, lip curling in rage. "And what a pitiful, low-bred excuse for an Innocence you must have, if it would settle for a Noah for its host."

And it happened again.

Just as Lenalee turned to her Innocence with anger and disbelief, just as Komui started towards Allen, concerned by the pain evident on the boy's face, and concerned with his mental condition, just as the Dark Boots turned away from the youth with contempt...

It happened again.

Allen groaned in pain, clutching his head tighter, left arm hanging like lead at his side. He gritted his teeth, clenching his eyes tighter as the pain rose to a climax, dimly seeing a green glow through his closed eyelids...

And then it was gone.

Allen's eyes blinked open, and he blew out a sigh of relief at the loss of the pain. The white haired youth then had the strange feeling of something missing. Before he could investigate further...

"Take it back."

Allen's head jerked up, and his eyes widened.

Standing front of him was a man, looking to be in his early twenties. His hair was snow white, and spiky. Spiking up at the back and spiking up at the front to flop over his face. His eyes were silver, with the tiniest hint of blue in them, cold, calculating, but burning with an icy fire. He was wearing a long white cloak that covered his entire body, fluffy and white at the collar, with a silver masquerade mask sitting at his throat. His arms were hidden in his cloak, though a few silver ringed black claws from his left hand poked through.

Lenalee gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth. Allen too?

Komui swallowed and looked between the two Innocence nervously. This was getting serious, and out of hand. What was going on with the Innocence? They were...alive. And talking. And arguing. And attempting to kill high-ranking members of the Vatican. Komui knew he had to do something, but what to do? They were Innocence, the very cause of the Order. Did they really pose a threat? True the Dark Boots had attacked the Inspector, but Komui had wanted to attack the Inspector many a times, and the Innocence seemed to have performed the act based solely upon her attachment to Lenalee. It was still cause for concern, but less so. Now, it seemed that the Crowned Clown had appeared as well, looking furious, and glaring at the Dark Boots. The tension in the air rivalled that of the one that appeared whenever Allen and Kanda went at it. (A.N. Went at it...lol, Yullen) Speaking of Kanda...and Lavi too...this had occurred directly after their mission, would they be affected too? So many questions...Komui needed them answered. He needed to go find Reever, he needed to assemble the science team, and he needed to get answers. But...he couldn't leave Lenalee and Allen alone in the room with two unpredictable crystals of God who looked about ready to attack each other...wait. Had they been talking while he was deep in thought? Oh well, if they were talking, perhaps he had some time to go and get Reever, he had to hurry though...things looked like they might get ugly...

Komui took his leave of the room, sneaking out through the door while casting an anxious glance towards Lenalee.

"I said I will not," snapped the Dark Boots, glaring at Crown Clown, who was shaking with rage. "Any Innocence who allies itself with a Noah is nothing more than trash. You are no better than the filthy memories that that filthy host of yours possesses," she growled.

"Dark Boots! Don't say that!" cried Lenalee. Allen was on his feet, confused at the situation, but knowing that his loyalty was being called into question. He was ready to defend it against whoever may be slandering him...wait, did Lenalee say the Dark Boots?

Allen closed his mouth from its previous-about-to-rebuff-that-rude-woman position, and slowly turned to look at the person all in white standing a little in front of him.

Why, that's funny, that person looked a lot like him.

A lot like him.

And it was just at that moment that Allen noticed (for the first time) that his left arm no longer seemed to be there. Allen stared at his empty sleeve, momentarily feeling some panic, flashbacks of Asia bombarding his mind. The panic subsided immediately, calm filling the Exorcist as he looked to the side, accepting the unacceptable, realizing the unfathomable, and feeling a surge of awe as he realized that his Innocence was still here with him.

And apparently, calling the Dark Boots names.

"Unworthy heathen," fumed Crown Clown, "How dare you insult me and my Allen? I am an Innocence, from the same great cube as you, and my Allen is a chosen Accommodator. My Accommodator. He is an Exorcist, and he has proven himself more than worthy of the name time and time again, so hold your tongue you filthy whore."

"Throw your meaningless babble at me all you want," spat the Dark Boots proudly, "Your words have no power. You lost your standing as an Innocence when you sided with the host of a Noah. Your traitorous carcass can never again be considered a crystal of God."

Crown Clown's eyes flashed and he took a threatening step forward. The Dark Boots matched him, stepping forward boldly, teeth bared in a feral snarl.

"STOP!"

Lenalee stood up, jumping between the two fighting Innocence, violet eyes flashing with anger.

"Lenalee!" gasped the Dark Boots in panic, "Get away-,"

"Stop that!" commanded Lenalee, "You two are on the same side! You're both Innocence! Dark Boots, your wrong about Allen and about...about Crown Clown too. I'd be dead if it wasn't for them. When I couldn't...when we couldn't work together, in Edo, it was Allen and Crown Clown that saved me. So just stop it, both of you. We're all allies here!"

Allen moved forward, tentatively grabbing onto Crown Clown's cloak. The white Innocence turned to look at his Accommodator, silver eyes looking guarded, but with poorly concealed warmth and possessiveness shining beneath them. "Thank you for defending me," said Allen softly, "But Lenalee is right. You're both...this is really amazing...but you're both Innocence. Innocence, standing before us and talking to us. You're supposed to be working together. You can't fight, especially on my account," said the white haired Exorcist with a soft smile.

Silence once again graced the infirmary.

Crown Clown shifted, turning so that he was facing Allen. "My Allen," he said, his voice deep in mature, "You've grown so much. You are right. We should not let emotions cloud our judgement. This war with the accursed Akuma comes first," he said, a small smile gracing his face as he lifted his gloved and sleeved right hand to ruffle Allen's hair. Allen felt a strange thrill run through him, like the feeling he got each time his synchronization with Crown Clown increased. His smile grew and he leaned into the touch. This was his Innocence. The one who had been with him from the beginning.

The Dark Boots let out a huff and turned away from the white-haired guys. She softly pulled Lenalee closer to her and opened her purple eyes haflway.

"You two will never have my trust," she growled, "But allies are needed. The Earl is the primary threat and...my Lenalee is right. You have...helped us, in the best. You have yet to do anything to harm us. For now, I will tolerate your presence. But should you slip..." The Dark Boots glared at Allen, who stiffened, but returned her gaze evenly.

She's nothing like Lenalee, he thought, trying not to wilt under her cold purple gaze.

Lenalee let out a sigh and sank to the ground.

"Lenalee? What's wrong?" asked the Dark Boots worriedly, Crown Clown and Allen momentarily forgotten.

"It's just...oh wow!" laughed the Chinese girl, "Innocence...I'm talking to my Innocence. There's...I...there's so much to say and yet no words...This is surreal. I feel like I'm dreaming!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah..." said Allen. "But...I guess...I always knew...that there was more to you than first appeared..." he said softly. Crown Clown smirked.

"But...why is this happening?" asked Lenalee. "Why are you...suddenly...and wait, where did brother go? And, oh my gosh, Leverrier! We should get him to the infirmary! And what about Lavi and Kanda? Do you think..." Lenalee's eyes widened. "Do you think this might have happened to them too?"

"Lavi..." said Allen, head tilted to the side of he thought of the redhead, Did what was going on maybe have something to do with the redhead chrystallzing? After all, this all happened after that mission...but maybe it was only Allen and Lenalee who were effected...

"Let's go get the others," said the white-haired teen, "We have a lot to talk about."

I feel like I could have fleshed out the end a lot more, and that there were some plot-holeish things and things I could have explained further. But the scene was dragging out and I really want to move on. Besides, everytime I tried to write interaction between Crown Clown and Allen it came out really Yaoi-ish. I couldn't help it. It just did. I think I subconsciously ship the pairing because I had to rewrite the ending three times because I had Allen blushing anytime Crown Clown said something and my fangirl mind was all like *SQUEE!* and my logical mind was like *WTF AM I DOING* So yeah, blame the late updates on the copious amounts of Yaoi I read. (I'm trying to stop...but it's like a drug. Honestly, girls reading this, if you haven't gotten into Yaoi yet, DON'T GET INTO IT. IT'S A FREAKING DRUG. You read one, then you read two, and then...you're a fangirl. Game over. There's no going back. And then you almost write a scene with an Exorcist making out with his Innocence. You see how Yaoi warps the mind?)

*cough*

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! I enjoyed writing it! My story updates for all of my stories have been all over the place lately, but hopefully next chapter won't take longer than three weeks. (Yes, that's my normal updating time. Get used to it. I have a short attention span. It's hard to focus on a chapter)

I really hope I get lots of reviews for this chapter. I enjoyed it, especially Crown Clown/ Dark Boots interactions. Those are fun to write.

xoxo, natcat5 ;p