A/N: In a bit of a change of pace from the previous chapters, here's a flashback to Allen's childhood in which he meets Cross for the first time.

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~Ten Years Earlier~

It was an unseasonably warm day in early March and many people were out and about, running errands or just enjoying the weather. Fourteen year old Allen Walker sat alone on a bench outside the library. He had been planning on spending the afternoon doing research for a school paper, but the weather was so nice that the thought of spending the next few hours inside the stuffy building was awful. So, allowing himself a rare break from his unwavering dedication to his schoolwork, the white haired teenager decided that the assignment could wait while he soaked up a little sun. But not too much of course; even the slightest hint of sunburn would turn his pale ivory skin to a bright tomato red.

Allen was far from bored as he sat there. The library was on a fairly busy street and there was a constant flow of people for him to watch, and the young teen loved to people watch.

He was watching a well-dressed elderly woman, imagining that her lavish spending meant that she was out shopping for gifts for her grandkids, when something happened. Allen may have left his life on the streets behind when he got adopted and moved halfway around the world, but that didn't mean he hadn't held on to a few tricks. And that's how he saw the tall black haired man getting ready to steal the rich old woman's wallet from her purse.

Without putting any thought into the action, Allen sprang from his seat on the bench and prepared to intervene. The woman happened to turn around right as the man reached into her purse, catching him in the act. She screamed loudly, drawing the attention of the entire crowd. Rather than backing off, the man grabbed her purse and ran. Allen saw all of this and quickly chased after the man, white hair following black into an alley.

By the time the police arrived at the scene, the purse snatcher was lying unconscious in the alley, disarmed of the gun he had been carrying, and Allen was standing over him, panting for breath with his lip split open and his previously neat clothing in disarray. Despite the pain he was in, he smiled triumphantly at having retrieved the old woman's purse. Neither of the two officers knew what to make of the scene before them, and unfortunately for Allen, he was in possession of stolen property, which meant that he was the one the cops arrested.

Allen tried to explain as the lady cop cuffed him, but Officer Moa was not in the mood for his lies. She ignored his repeated assertions that he was innocent, and moved to put him in the back of the squad car while they waited for paramedics to arrive to treat the unconscious man. But Allen collapsed in pain before they reached the car, and ended up being taken to the hospital with the purse snatcher.

After his lip had been stitched up and his broken rib had been examined and treated, Allen was escorted to the police station where he was finally allowed to tell his story. Neither Officer Moa, nor her partner Charles, nor their captain believed that the scrawny teenager had disarmed a man twice his size and retrieved the stolen purse, which just so happened to contain several thousand dollars in cash and jewelry. In their minds that meant he had orchestrated the whole thing and the actual thief was an innocent bystander. They questioned him repeatedly, looking for any slip ups in his story.

It was during this time that a certain redheaded vampire by the name of Cross Marian came to the station on official FBI business. He laughed to himself as the officers worked themselves into a frenzy over the purse snatching. Normally he would have stayed out of the local's business, but he owed the captain a favor, so when he had gotten what he came for, he provided his assistance. He normally wouldn't have cared enough to actually put effort into helping, but the redhead had gotten a look at the teenager they were holding, and the kid had intrigued him.

Cross looked over the evidence, which consisted of a gun with no serial number and no prints, the old woman's purse, and the suspect's backpack. It was the backpack that caught his attention. The bag was clearly that of an average middle school student, and not a criminal mastermind. Nothing about it or its contents said that young Allen Walker was anything but a normal teenager. He was curious as to why the officers thought that the kid was the perpetrator, and after hearing their account of the incident, requested to interview the kid himself. It wasn't his jurisdiction, but he convinced the captain to allow it, after all, Cross was a vampire and would be able to tell if the kid was lying.

Allen was tired, frustrated, and hungry after being falsely accused and stuck in that cold, windowless interrogation room. On top of that, he hadn't been allowed to take any of the pain medication that the hospital had given him, and he was in agony over his broken rib. He tried to get as comfortable as he could in the chair he was cuffed to, but knew it was futile. When the door opened, he straightened up and smiled as pleasantly as he could at the man who entered, after all, manners were everything; he wouldn't be able to convince these people of his innocence if he gave into the anger and spewed curse words at them.

This visitor was someone he hadn't seen before. Allen took an instant dislike to the man with his long red hair and his haughty swagger, but when the first thing the man did was plop a tray down on the table in front of him, a tray that contained a protein bar, a cup of water, and his bottle of pain pills, the teen buried those feelings away. Whoever the redhead was, he was allowing him to take his medication, and that meant he couldn't be all that bad.

Cross scowled at the scrawny white haired kid as he swallowed the pills and wolfed down the protein bar. Everything about the teen's appearance screamed innocent and helpless, yet his experienced eyes could see the strength and danger behind the façade. There was no doubt in his mind that Allen Walker was a force to be reckoned with.

The pair stared at each other for a few minutes before Cross lost his patience and barked at the teen. "Well? Aren't you going to say something?"

Allen straightened a little at the demand. "I was waiting for you to ask a question, sir."

The teen's politeness simultaneously pleased and disgusted Cross. "Don't you want to know who I am first?"

The white haired teen shrugged as best he could with his broken rib. "You're a Fed. What more is there to know?"

Slightly impressed, Cross questioned him further. "And how do you know that?"

Allen shrugged again. "Local cops are all the same, self-important with the power that comes from having a badge. You're wearing a nice suit, and you carry yourself better than they do, so you must be federal."

At the impressed look that Cross gave him, Allen smirked devilishly. "Of course, there's also the fact that you're wearing an ID badge that says FBI."

The smirk fell when Cross narrowed his eyes. "That's quite the smart ass attitude for someone in your predicament."

Allen spoke as levelly as he could, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice. "I didn't do anything. I'm innocent. I swear."

The look Cross gave him sent a chill down his spine. "So you didn't get in a fight and knock someone out?"

The white haired teen frowned. He was smart enough to know that he was in trouble for that, it was probably considered assault or something, but he also knew better than to lie about it. "No, that happened, ...but I didn't do any of the other things they think I did!"

"Relax, kid." Cross leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the table, making the tight-laced captain cringe from where he was watching behind the one way glass. The redheaded vampire didn't care though, he'd seen enough to know that Allen really was innocent. "Just calm down and tell me what happened."

Allen was about to do so when a thought occurred to him. "I'm fourteen. Aren't there laws against questioning minors without their parents present?"

Cross shrugged, inwardly laughing at the kid. "Only if you had asked for them to be present, which you haven't."

"Oh, ok." The redhead expected the boy to immediately ask for them to call his parents, but instead the kid leaned back in his chair and sighed. Truthfully, Allen didn't want to have to explain to Mana that he'd been arrested. Even if he was innocent and had only been trying to do the right thing, he couldn't stand the thought of disappointing his father.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Allen recounted the story for what felt like the hundredth time. He didn't know why the Feds were interested in his case, but whoever this redhead was, he actually seemed to believe that he was innocent, so he didn't care to ask.

Just as Allen finished, a commotion in the hallway interrupted them. He recognized the voices as that of the captain and the old lady whose purse had been stolen. She heard they had arrested the man who took her purse and was demanding to see him, but the captain was refusing to let her into the room.

Cross smirked to himself at the noise. He suspected that the stuffy captain wouldn't accept his report that the boy really was innocent, but this would prove it once and for all. He stood from his chair and opened the door.

The old woman stepped around the captain the moment the door opened; she looked around and then turned accusingly back to the captain. "I thought you said you'd arrested the man!"

The captain glared at Cross for opening the door. "We did. That's him there."

Allen frowned when the captain pointed to him. "I didn't do anything!"

The old woman scowled fiercely at the sight of the teenager handcuffed to a chair. "The man who took my bag was tall and had dark hair. That's the kid who chased after him, trying to get it back for me."

While Cross smirked smugly, Allen shook his left arm at the captain, making the handcuffs chaining him to the chair rattle. "That's what I've been saying all afternoon! Can you take this off now?"

The next few minutes were a flurry of activity. Officer Moa came and freed Allen's arm, then she was sent to get the boy some food. Allen spoke a little with the old woman, who was grateful for what he'd done and furious that he'd been arrested. She left to have words with the captain, leaving Allen alone in the interrogation room with Cross.

Allen glanced at the redhead as he sat down across from him. "What happens now?"

"Now they'll call your parents, and you'll wait here until someone comes to pick you up." Cross once again leaned back and kicked his feet onto the table. "In the meantime, I have some questions for you."

The white haired teen frowned. He didn't really want to be alone with the arrogant redhead any longer, but Cross was clearly not going anywhere any time soon. "Then go ahead and ask so we can get this over with."

Cross smiled to himself; that smart aleck attitude was back, which meant he could have some fun with the kid. "Why'd you do it? Why chase a guy twice your size over a stranger's purse?"

"It was the right thing to do."

The questions continued long after Officer Moa had returned with food and the fast food meal had been consumed. Allen was developing quite the love-hate relationship with Agent Cross, who was begrudgingly quite impressed with the teen. It finally came to an end when an officer poked his head into the room. "Someone is here for Mr. Walker."

Cross followed as the officer escorted Allen to reception area where a tall, dark haired vampire was waiting. The redhead recognized his fellow vampire immediately, wondering what on earth the other was doing there; this was not somewhere he ever would have expected to see the Earl's right hand man. He got his answer not a moment later when Allen brightened and threw himself at the vampire. "Uncle Neah!"

The anxious look on Neah's face shifted to one of worry as he caught sight of the stitches in his nephew's lip and the pain-filled way in which he moved. "Are you ok, Allen? They didn't do anything to you, did they?"

The white haired teen shook his head. "This is from earlier. I'm fine now."

Cross snorted. "Only until the medication wears off."

Neah scowled as he finally noticed the redhead, but Cross just brushed off the suspicious look. He tossed the pill bottle he'd grabbed from the table to the other vampire. "The kid has a broken rib from the fight he was in earlier. He's free to go now, but he might get called back for questioning again later."

Cross continued in a voice so low that the humans, specifically Allen, wouldn't be able to hear him. "I should have known that the kid is one of Mana's. How's your brother holding up?"

Neah gave his old friend an appreciative smile. "He's been doing a lot better lately. Having Allen around has made quite a difference."

The words made Cross raise an eyebrow. "You think he's going to turn this one?"

"If he doesn't, I might do it myself. There's something special about Allen." Neah smiled then turned his attention back to Allen.

The white haired teen was asking the officers if he could have his backpack back, so that he wouldn't fall behind on his schoolwork. While they waited for someone to go fetch it, Neah knelt down so that he was at Allen's eye level. "Are you sure you're ok, Allen?"

The boy nodded. "I'm fine. But can we not tell Mana that I got arrested?"

Neah turned a piercing glare on Cross. "He got arrested?!"

"It was a misunderstanding; he can give you the details later. He's lucky I was here, everyone else thought he was guilty."

Allen scowled at the redhead's words, but he refrained from commenting on them in favor of rifling through his backpack and making sure everything was there. Satisfied that nothing was missing, he threw the bag over his shoulder, only to immediately drop it at the jolt of pain that shot through his chest. Neah picked up the backpack for his nephew, and began to escort the teen away. "Come on, Allen, let's get you home."

Cross caught up with them at the elevators, he had one piece of business left with them. He pulled out his business card and offered it to the white haired teen. "Here kid, take this. Give me a call when you've finished high school and we can talk about you joining the Bureau."

Allen frowned as the redhead tousled his hair and walked away, but he stuffed the card in his pocket anyway. He may not have liked the redhead much, but joining the FBI after high school was an interesting idea.