Ace of Spades

Lavi: Aww man! We really have to do the reviews, huh?

Allen: Yes, Lavi, we do.

Reviews (by Allen)—

lucifer – Don't worry, lucifer. Water Fairy was the same way for a while. Inspiration will hit you some way or another.

Swirlyblue172 – You do have a point there, Swirly. I have been really emotional, even for girl standards. I suppose it's because I'm slowly losing my mind? (Uncommitted shrug.)

rion – That's really nice of you! That really made Water Fairy's day! (Seeing as she's been really wondering if her writing's any good. Silly, pessimistic fairy!)

darkxwolfxdemon, Shoten Shinzui, Shrimp Chip, Diclonious57, Aion Laven Walker, mito14, HikariNoTenshi-San, setsuko teshiba, Syron13 (Chapter 1), darkrose821, akatsuki-cloude, Allen Hitori, kyothefallenkit, FallenHope-Angel, - Thank you for the reviews!

End Reviews—

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Eleventh Night – Black Heartbeats

The moment Lavi, Timothy, Armin, and I arrived at the Order, I knew something was wrong. The scientists were abuzz; their faces all sharing the same shocked/scared look. I knew the others noticed it, but they didn't say anything. I chose not to bring it up. Maybe Komui got promoted and was leaving, or another Science Department head was added. (I was pretty darn sure it wasn't another Komurin.) Lavi told me to go relax when we reached an intersection in the hallways. I pouted. I couldn't help it. I wasn't a burden, was I? Something in Lavi's face, however, told me not to argue. I followed his "order" with grace and returned to my room. (And yes, I did get lost. How am I to remember it's a right, not a left?)

I flopped on my bed, Timcanpy flying out of my discarded jacket. I sighed and rubbed my aching head. It felt as if someone had squeezed my head, trying to get all the fluids out. (I certainly had cried more in a day than my entire life.) Looking around my room, I felt at home, but uneasy. And man, was I tired! I yawned, stretching on my bed. Timcanpy landed on my chest, his long tail curling around my thigh. I smiled at him and gently rubbed his head.

"Something wrong, Tim?" I asked. Tim merely snuggled into my chest causing me to wince a bit. "Or are you tired?"

Timcanpy appeared to look at me and just folded his wings around his body, their tips pushing down my shirt. I frowned a bit. What could be wrong with him? And was wrong with me? I felt tired…exhausted, actually. The mission wasn't that tiring! Well, emotionally yes, but physically? Not at all. I closed my eyes and sighed softly, letting myself fall into the arms of Morpheus.

The dream was familiar and strange at the same time. Snow blanketed the ground and I stood surrounded by the darkness of night. It was cold, but it barely registered in my mind. All I could think about was walking forward…to get away from something…but what? My feet moved sluggishly in the snow and I shivered as the soft clumps of snowflakes landed on my head.

"Cold…" I murmured, looking around. I spotted a person ahead and hurried forward. "Mana, wait!"

Something in me froze. I felt myself running forward, but my mind…my mind just stopped. Was it another dream from the past? I gulped as I finally reached Mana. My hand clasped his…and everything disappeared in blast of cold air.

This time I stood in the Rewinding Town, watching myself converse with Lavi. I saw my hands clench and then I was storming away from Lavi, shouting "MY NAME'S ALLEN!" over my shoulder. I shivered again. These memories…why? Why were they suddenly assaulting me now?

The memories danced before my eyes as if they were the flame of a candle. Lavi and I going to Krory's castle, Tyki Mikk destroying my Innocence, fighting the Level 3, the Ark, the Level 4, the Komu-Vitamin D incident, arriving at the new headquarters, finding Timothy, being shot to death… They all came tumbling down, now more like the snow then a candle flame. I clutched my head tightly.

"It hurts! What's wrong with me!?" I exclaimed wincing. I stopped, momentarily stunned as a mirror materialized in front of me.

The person looking back was me…and not me. The reflection was the current me, short, feminine, but superimposed over me was Alana. I stared, my chest feeling tight. This body was not mine…it was not meant for me. I realized why I had shivered when attempting to find my room and why I felt so exhausted.

The body…my body…was dying.

"Aleina…Aleina!"

"Allen…come on, Miss Allen!"

I groaned, swatting irately at the two trying to wake me up. I pushed myself up, weakly glaring at Laurence and Aleydis. Yawning, I stretched and briefly wondered why they were in my room.

"Hello," I said, smiling. "What brings you to my room?"

Slowly, sluggishly, their panicked looks registered in my head. I frowned, quickly getting into a standing position.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a guy looking for you," Laurence said softly. He glared at the ground. "He's…"

"An evil, evil man," Aleydis shivered and took my hand. "Allen…he's…he says he's Malcolm C. Levrier."

At that moment, my heart stopped. Pain flared in my chest and I gasped. My eyes widened in fear. Levrier was here? Wasn't he…wasn't he sacked? I gulped and clenched my trembling hands.

"How…why is he here?" I asked, my voice betraying the raw fear I felt. "Why isn't he fired?"

Aleydis hugged me tightly. "I don't know…but he's going to be here soon…"

I was vaguely aware of Aleydis leading me to my bathroom. She was soon helping me get changed, out of the clothes I had stolen from the Krausharr mansion. I now stood in a white dress shirt and black pants. The boots I wore were identical to the ones I had as a male. Somehow, Aleydis was able to find my checkered belt. I looked down at myself, a wry smile forming on my face. How appropriate. I fixed the dark crimson ribbon I wore around my neck and sighed. Together, Aleydis and I exited the bathroom. Laurence sat on my bed, Timcanpy in his lap. The golden golem seemed tense and practically tripped over himself to get to me. He landed heavily on my head, causing me to wince.

"So…ready to meet the devil?" I asked, attempting levity. I do believe I failed quite miserably. Aleydis took hold of my hand again.

"Okay…" Laurence stood his green eyes tight with fear. My chest tightened at his look. Levrier affected me strongly, but my fear and my death caused another, greater affect on the Order.

Aleydis led us out of my room and began to head towards Komui's office. I began noticing the looks of fear and hatred I used to get from the staff were being replaced with looks of sympathy. I knew they didn't believe I was Allen, but those looks somehow gave me strength. Even if they thought me a monster, they didn't believe I should go through Levrier. I gulped, tightening my grip on Aleydis's hand.

"If there's a God…please, please don't Levrier put me to death again," I thought desperately. "And please keep my friends safe."

We stopped in front of Komui's office. I was now shaking and I could feel the icy chill of dread fall over me. There was dull throbbing in my chest, where Levrier's bullet had gone through and I touched the spot softly.

"Ready?" Aleydis asked, softly. Laurence backed away and I looked after him, frowning in confusion. "He's only allowing Exorcists inside."

I nodded and then reached out, opening the door. My heart beat a hectic beat against my chest the moment my eyes rested upon him. Link was with him, but he barely registered in my mind. Aleydis led me in, closing the door behind us. The other Exorcists who weren't on missions were around the room along with Reever, Johnny, and Komui. I cataloged all the Exorcists present quickly before returning my gaze to Levrier. I gulped.

"I thought they would have sacked you," was my greeting. Hey, a guy-turned-girl can't always be polite, can he/she?

Levrier smiled frigidly. "I was merely demoted, 'Miss Walker'." He narrowed his eyes at me. "And how, pray-tell, did you even come upon that body? I remember seeing Allen Walker die before me-," Lenalee, Lavi, and Link all winced at that, "-and he was cremated."

"Souls cannot be cremated, Levrier," I responded, proud that my voice no longer shook. Hatred and anger was taking the fear's place. "I am Allen Walker. How else could I be able to use Crown Clown? Or the Ark?"

For a few moments, Levrier only stared at me. In my peripheral vision, I noticed Lenalee take Komui's hand. Timothy frowned, hugging himself, as General Cloud put a hand on his shoulder. Levrier then smirked, chuckling.

"And? That could merely be a clever disguise planned by the Earl," he said, shrugging. I scowled. "Come now, that's not very lady-like, 'Miss Walker'."

"The Ark was abandoned by the Earl because he could not control it," I answered. "The Fourteenth had crippled it the moment he betrayed the Earl…and somehow gave me the ability to use the Ark. The Earl cannot use the Ark the Order now has. He wouldn't have thrown it away otherwise."

Again, Levrier studied me for a few moments. I returned his gaze, though it felt as if my sanity was going. My body felt ice cold and I was amazed that I wasn't shivering. There was a slight tightening in my chest and the sudden urge to curl up in a ball flooded my system. I sighed softly, hardly audible, and glared at Levrier.

"You have no proof otherwise to tell me I am not Allen Walker," I began in a brisk voice. "I have Crown Clown. I can control the Ark. I have all of Allen Walker's memories. I am Allen Walker. Now good bye."

With that said, I left the office at a rapid pace, leaving a surprised Aleydis behind.

The rain felt good on my hot cheeks. It also washed away the salty residue of my tears. Vigorously, I rubbed my face as I leaned against the wall of the Order. The balcony I sat on was nothing more than a three foot ledge that had a window above it. The sky was dark and I could see the lamps that illuminated the outside courtyard. From my perch, I could see the occasional flash of lightning in the clouds, but all this seemed surreal.

Because I was dying.

I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. After all, as a parasitic accommodator, the Innocence was eating away at my life-force. (Reever had told me this once when I asked about Innocence.) Also, I was living in a somehow reanimated corpse. The Grave of Maria had been one thing. She had been powered by Shishou's magic…my rebirth was another thing completely.

"…a…ll…en…"

I was startled by the ghostly whisper and I turned to find the fading form of Alana. She smiled at me and the pain returned to my chest. She gave me her body so I could live. And she was trapped on Earth. Tears welled up in my eyes and I wiped furiously at them.

"I'm so sorry, Alana…so sorry…" I sobbed. "You're body's dying again. I can feel it…"

There was a chilling sensation on my shoulders. I suppose it was Alana's attempt at a hug.

"…it…seems…gift…is…fading…my…done…" her voice was faint and I hardly heard her words. I tried to figure out the statement. Her gift is fading? As in my rebirth? And what did she mean by "my done"? Her work? But what work?

"I don't want to die again…" I muttered. Alana murmured softly in my ear. Her soft assurances made me feel a tad better, but nothing more. She was probably stuck here because of me. Me and my cursed eye and cursed fate.

I don't know how long I sat there, feeling the rain soak me, feeling the cold sensation of Alana next to me. I could have sworn I heard a clock tick-ticking the seconds to my…third death? Was it bad to lose count on how many times someone dies? I laughed bitterly. And then to add to my problems, all I could think about was how much I…I (oh, God) loved Lavi. I suppose dying again puts certain things into focus. Those jumbled, warm feelings had to be love. I had felt similar when I was with Mana. It was different though, sharper almost.

As I thought about these feelings, I could hear the soft thumping of my heart and I smiled bitterly. I held up my left hand and looked down at the leather covered palm.

"Black heartbeats…" I murmured, clenching it into a fist.

There was a clatter from above me and the window swung open. I was, yet again, startled and looked up. My gray eyes met green and I blushed helplessly. Lavi was looking down at me and he sighed softly.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, grinning. "We were afraid you ran away or something."

I blinked and smiled a bit. "No…no, I was just sitting out here."

"And catching a cold. Get in, idiot moyashi," Lavi moved away from the window to let me stand and get in (and to get away from the rain).

I climbed in easily and stared down at myself. My clothes were soaked, the heavy material sticking to my skin. I sighed a bit and closed the window with a desolate expression. A warm hand was on my shoulder and then a towel was furiously rubbing at my head.

"Ah! H-Hey, stop!" I proclaimed weakly, attempting to grab the hands drying me off.

"No way. You're soaked, Allen. Are you trying to catch pneumonia?" Lavi's voice sounded upset, surprising me enough to stop my struggle.

"No…" I answered softly. I could barely see Alana's shape in the light of the hall.

When Lavi was satisfied with drying me off, he gave me the towel to finish, but didn't leave. I rubbed my face with the fluffy cloth, secretly sending glances at the redhead. He was analyzing me again, sending Goosebumps up and down my skin. I tried my best to ignore him, but it was futile; his gaze was like a beam. My sigh was muffled by the cloth of the towel and I looked up finally, meeting Lavi's gaze full on.

"What?" I asked, as I rubbed the towel against the wet fabric of my shirt. Okay, it wasn't exactly the way to dry one's self, but I was cold.

"You seem…off, somehow," Lavi answered, frowning. I snorted. "It's not funny."

"I know…I know…" I returned, stopping in my attempt to warm myself. "I suppose I am off…seeing Levrier didn't exactly help my sanity."

I heard Lavi sigh. "I suppose it didn't…"

Nodding in agreement, I turned to leave, but was stopped by Lavi. Frowning, I glared at him over my shoulder. However, instead of a serious look, an amused smile was on his face.

"Your room's the other way," he simply said. I flushed brightly and coughed in an attempt to cover my mistake.

"I-I knew that!" I stated with as much dignity as I could muster in that situation. Lavi chuckled behind me as he followed. I pursed my lips, eyes narrowed at the floor. "…why are you following me?"

"'cause I can," came the light-hearted response. I felt my eye twitch.

I was again lying awake in my bed, comfortably dry, but uncomfortably cold. It was as if my bones were ice. It stung almost, like frost was creeping along my muscles and veins. I rubbed my face, feeling the sticky sensation of sweat. Maybe I did have pneumonia. Softly groaning, I sat up and stretched. Maybe a snack would help me…

I stood, grabbing my loose pants and pulling them on. I pulled a sweater over the large shirt I used as my nightwear. Creeping out of my room, I made sure to make as little noise as possible. It wouldn't go over well if a random Finder found me (Ha! 'Finder found'? Get it?) roaming the halls after dark. Softly counting my very limited blessings at the empty hallway, I proceeded to sneak to the kitchen. I passed Komui's office quickly, but stopped at the conversation I heard inside.

"I suppose you think that child is Walker?" Levrier's voice asked, sounding huffy.

"…in all cases, I would have to believe that child is Allen Walker," Komui responded. "She has every memory of Allen…as well as Clown Crown and she can control the Ark. Timcanpy is also fond of her."

"Ah, yes…the golem. Couldn't that be because she looks like Walker?" Levrier responded. I had to agree with him there. In all honesty, Tim could only like me for my looks and not because I was Allen Walker.

"I don't believe so. Tim doesn't care for anyone else who looks like Cross…or Allen, for that matter. He didn't respond well to the Finder who mimicked Allen's hairstyle…" Komui said, his voice sounding funny. It was like he was trying to stop laughing. "Anyway…from the blood tests I had Matron run, it was deduced that she has exactly the same blood type as Allen."

"How lovely…and what is it? O? Five out of every six people have that blood type."

"No. Even rarer, AB-. I find it coincidental that this girl has the same rare blood type as Allen," Komui's response was snappish. Huh. My blood type was rare? I hadn't even known my blood type until now. "I believe that child to be Allen."

"Ah, but even you believe that, people will still fear her. After all, Allen Walker is supposed to be dead. I saw him die," Levrier answered stiffly.

There was silence after that and I began creeping away. Of course, even if I did manage to get away, I would have most likely heard Komui's response.

"You killed Allen! You didn't just see him die, you made him die!"

I gulped and hurried towards the cafeteria. Why was my death such a burden on people? Why was I such a pain? Couldn't people just accept me as I was now?

The cafeteria was dark when I got there and I crept among the tables towards the kitchen. I slipped inside easily, seeing as the door was almost never locked, and maneuvered around the counters to the icebox. My stomach grumbled happily, as I inched closer. I stopped inches before my target and shivered, feeling a cold sweat dampen my forehead. A small, strangled chuckled escaped my chattering teeth and I slid to the floor, hugging myself. It was so cold. So, so cold. I closed my eyes tightly and bit my lip to keep the scream of anguish from escaping me.

I looked up, at the mirror Jerry and mounted on front of the icebox and smiled half-heartedly at the Fourteenth superimposed over my own reflection. Did he really think I would allow him to take me over? I refused to kill anyone I cared about. I would not become a Noah. The Fourteenth's grin seemed to stretch, as if laughing at me.

"What if I told you, when you become the Fourteenth, that you will kill people who are important to you?"

X-------

Lavi: On that happy note, we end the chapter! :D

Allen: Happy…? Really?

Lavi: And this chapter is a lot shorter than the others because it's apparently a "filler chapter". (Shrugs.) Anyway, please read and review! (I'm doing the reviews this time!)

Allen and Lavi: Oh, any Merry early Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Words/Phrases to Know:

"…into the arms of Morpheus." – Morpheus is the Greek god of dreams, so basically, Allen's falling into his domain.

Shishou – Master

Black Heartbeats – This title is actually taken from on of the chapter titles from the manga (Chapter 59, White Heartbeats) and inverted. White to black. Basically because Allen's living on borrowed time his heartbeats are "black" or bad.

Preview:

A Finder gives me a letter addressed from someone called 'The Half'. The letter gives me explicit instructions to come to an abandoned building in London…alone. In fear of my friends, I comply, but I fear I may be walking into a trap. Not to mention I can clearly feel my body dying. This is something I have to do alone…and it may very well be my last death.

Twelfth Night – The Beginning of the End