┐(￣ー￣)┌ '┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

-o0o-

Allen might have never explicitly planned for this eventuality, but fact remained that she knew a thing or two or fifteen about pregnancies, and it was mostly thanks to a single woman.

The woman in question had never properly introduced herself, but Allen had a sneaking suspicion it might have just slipped her mind, seeing that the woman had been muttering curses over Cross at the time.

You see, when Allen had reached a certain age and had entered the thing otherwise known as puberty, there had been certain developmental changes to consider. And Cross, Cross had opted out of dealing with them altogether, dumping the responsibility onto a woman in one of the brothels he would frequent.

The woman in question had obviously disapproved of how Cross had handled, or rather not handled, the whole situation.

"Listen to me now, lassie." She had grabbed Allen by the shoulders and leaned in, lowering her voice. "From now on, this will happen about once a month, and it's completely natural. You might feel a bit sick at first, but there are remedies for that. If it stops, now that's when you should worry. Sure, things will be a bit irregular at first. Stress and poor nutrition can also affect it. But… if you've been with a man and it suddenly stops, that's bad."

At the time, Allen might not have been completely ignorant as to what happened in places like the brothel, but− "So as long as I never…?"

The woman's expression had darkened visibly. At the time, Allen had wondered if the woman was cross with her, not worried on her behalf. "Accidents happen," the woman had said, shaking her head. "Also, the world is full of bad men, and if you keep travelling with that man, then you'll be certain to encounter more than a few. But, even then, there are ways. However, the longer you wait, the riskier it gets."

And she had been right, in so many ways.

"If you feel it moving, that means you're already past the halfway point. You might still be able to get rid of it then, but after that…"

Feeling new kicks to her insides, Allen lifted her gaze to her reflection. The shadow of the Fourteenth seemed even darker now, as if it was becoming more solid over time.

"Walker."

Link was lurking. He might have been subtle about it, but he was definitely lurking.

Things had been understandably tense since Paris, tense and surprisingly unresolved.

You see, Allen had more or less expected to be facing the Inquisition the moment they were sure she would not die, or a harsh interrogation à la Central at the very least. Instead, she had gotten Komui's office, Komui, Bak, Komui's new secretary, Link, Komui's worried disapproval, Bak's shocked surprise, Link's disapproving disapproval, and finally, the Head Nurse of all people.

"Y-y-you're pregnant? But how?!" Bak had looked just about ready to break into hives; he had really just turned up at headquarters to yell at some posh-looking woman, but at this point, he seemed to have forgotten all about that. "B-b-b-but who? When?"

Unable to face any of them, Allen had averted her gaze. Even so, she had remained keenly aware of the disappointment and disapproval directed her way.

Allen had fully expected to get carted off to Central after that.

Instead, she had found herself temporarily pulled from the roster and sent back to her room like some petulant child while the adults figured out how to deal with her. It had probably not been intended like that, at least not from all participants, but−

Link had confronted her later on, in private.

"Walker. When did you find out?" he had asked, and Allen, Allen had readily admitted when, but had scarcely managed to get another word in before Link pressed on. "Why didn't you inform me?" he had snapped. "Walker!"

And Allen, Allen had not held back. "I was scared, okay! Fucking terrified, all right?! And don't give me some damned line that I should've trusted you or whatever. Your boss wanted me tried before the Inquisition just a short while ago! And knowing what this place has done to people in the past, how could I assume this would be any different?"

She had actually managed to shock him into silence, at least for a bit, but− "I was fucking terrified, okay? And frankly, I don't even know which prospect scared me the most. I just−"

She had started crying about then, with Link standing there with a strange look of almost helplessness. "Link, could you… just turn around for a bit? I don't−"

It must have been the hormones.

"Walker…"

It had to have been.

"Walker, you need to calm down."

Easy for him to say, she had thought.

But now she was calm again. A bit more resigned to her fate, perhaps. At the same time though, Allen was scared, and what she had said to Link earlier was just as true now as it was back then. She was uncertain of which prospect scared her the most; them experimenting on her child, them experimenting on her or being pulled from the frontlines of a war they could not win without her.

Granted, the latter had already happened, but−

But−

"Walker."

Allen looked up.

Link was still standing there, lurking just outside the bathroom. Allen absentmindedly wondered if the man was even aware of just how fucking creepy that was. "Link, Timcanpy," she acknowledged, because the golem was riding on top of Link's shoulder. "Do you mind?"

Smiling, she slammed the door shut into their faces and locked it. Then she put up her middle finger at the Fourteenth's reflection for good measure before pulling off her clothes and stepping into the shower.

-o0o-