… Remember when these used to be weekly updates? Sigh.

Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-Man.

Poison

Lavi had a poison living in him. Deak was always there, always behind his back, watching him, taunting him, waiting for him to slip up and give the other identity a chance to take over. There were forty-six other personalities inside Lavi, but only Deak ever tried anything.

Maybe it was because Deak was different. Dark. Cruel. He enjoyed others' pain. He was everything Lavi wasn't. And even though Lavi constantly fought to keep Deak locked up in his room of the Memory Palace, both knew that it was only a matter of time before Lavi made a mistake.

"Lavi?" Kanda shut the door behind him, dropping Mugen onto the floor. He'd just gotten back from a three-week-long mission and was exhausted. All he wanted to do was find Lavi and drag him to his bed to take a long, well-deserved nap.

"Lavi? Are you here?" Lenalee had told him that she was pretty sure she had seen Lavi going to his room earlier, saying that he had a headache. Come to think of it, Lavi's been having headaches a lot lately, even before I left. That's strange.

"La –" he jumped as a hand touched his shoulder. "Kami, Lavi, don't do that! I almost attacked you!"

"Sorry." Lavi smiled slightly. "I thought you heard me coming up."

"I didn't," Kanda snapped. He wasn't angry, not really, but he was damn tired and Lavi thought it was fun to play mind games with him? "Look, Lavi. I'm exhausted. Let's just go to sleep." He reached out to take Lavi's hand when suddenly Lavi grabbed his wrist and shoved him against the wall, one arm above his head.

"What the – Lavi! What's wrong with you?!" Kanda stared at his boyfriend in shock. "Do you think this is some sort of game? Let go!" He tried to pull his hand out from beneath Lavi's, but the Bookman just tightened his grip. He smiled, and that was when Kanda noticed his eye.

Normally, Lavi's one eye was bright green, full of energy and fire. But now it was flat, dull, a duckweed-green instead of new-grass-green. The smile was wrong, too. It wasn't a happy smile, the kind of smile Lavi gave Kanda when they met after being separated for any length of time. This was a cruel smile, a hungry one. Not Lavi's.

And then it clicked. This wasn't Lavi. It was Lavi's body, but not Lavi himself. Deak.

Allen had told Kanda about the time in the Ark when Rhode locked Lavi up inside himself and let Deak out, and how Deak nearly killed Allen before Lavi managed to break out and stop him.

The headaches. The times Lavi seemed to be having an internal argument, or battle, but wouldn't tell Kanda anything. The way he had been acting strangely, even before Kanda left. Deak's been fighting him. Deak has been trying to get out. And he never told anyone.

"Damn it, Lavi! I know you're in there. Let me go."

Lavi – no, not Lavi, it was Deak, god damn Deak in his lover's body – smiled. "Lavi's busy. But we can have fun on our own…" His smile made Kanda's skin crawl.

Kanda snarled. "Get off me. I'll kill you –"

"No, you won't. You see, even though Lavi's not home, this is still his body. Any damage you do to it will be felt by him, if and when I give it back to him. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

Damn it. Kanda struggled, but weakly. He was tired. He hadn't slept in two or three days, and was still worn out from the last battle he had fought. Even if he had been at peak strength, this was Lavi. It was still his body. Kanda couldn't quite bring himself to hurt him. Damn it.

Deak saw the mental struggle going on behind Kanda's dark eyes. "Tragic, isn't it? You can't hurt Lavi. Even if I'm not Lavi."

He pressed his body closer to Kanda's and reached one hand up to touch Kanda's face. It was light, gentle. Just like Lavi. He leaned closer, closer, until his lips were right beside Kanda's ear. "I can be, though." And before Kanda could think, Lavi's lips were pressed against his. He felt so much like Lavi, he was Lavi, and –

No. This is not Lavi. This is an intruder. Get rid of him. Kanda blocked out the knowledge that this was Lavi, the person he was closest to, his love, and forced himself to react as if the person before him was a total stranger.

Three strikes. That was all it took. A quick twist to free his arm, a punch to the jaw, a knee to the ribs, and then a hard shove away, and Deak was on the floor. Kanda wasn't sure what to do then. Run? Attack again? But Lavi solved the problem for him.

He lay on the ground for a moment, winded, and then suddenly convulsed, hands grabbing his head. A low moan escaped his mouth. Then a growl. "Get out." Not directed to Kanda, but inwards. Toward the one who had taken over his mind and body. "Out. Get out. Get out."

Lavi's head is splitting. His whole body hurts, but it is centered in his head. He can feel his hands, nails digging into the sides of his skull as if that will drive Deak back to the cave he came from. Get out. He could see what Deak had been doing, could see the shock in Yuu's face as he realized that Lavi was not Lavi.

In truth, Lavi had been terrified. He knew what Deak was capable of, and he was so scared that his other self might hurt his beloved Yuu.

He was so happy when Yuu hit him. This isn't me. Fight him. Surprise him. If Deak got caught off-guard, Lavi hoped that he might be able to get back out.

And he was trying. Gods knew he was trying, but Deak was strong, and determined to keep his freedom. Get out.

And then he feels cool hands cupping his face. A familiar voice is talking, maybe shouting – he can't tell. The one thing he knows is that this is someone he wants to see again. See, hear, touch, love. Kanda Yuu.

Get out, Deak. He's mine.

"Lavi! Lavi, wake up! Dammit, usagi! Come on!" Kanda shook Lavi's shoulders gently. "Send that bastard back under whatever rock he crawled out of!"

And then Lavi's body went limp. Kanda felt a thrill of fear run down his spine before Lavi's eye opens slowly, and then he can relax. It is green – bright green, alive green, Lavi green. Deak is gone. Thank Kami.

"Lavi."

The Bookman looks up at the samurai and smiles tiredly. "Hi, Yuu. I have the worst headache on the planet right now. Do you want to go to sleep?"

Kanda rolls his eyes, but helps Lavi to his feet. "That's what I came here to ask in the first place, baka."

Kanda is somewhat OOC in this. Oh well.

Note – I did not actually reread this, so I don't know if it makes sense. Oops.

It is doubtful that I'll get the next one done before November. I'm doing NaNoWriMo again, which means I have absolutely no life for a whole month. I wonder what it says about me that I decide to go and do this madness all over again after experiencing it last year. … And on top of junior-year homework. I might die.

Come to think of it, I better not! I've still got, what, 29 of these left?

… Jesus Christ. Maybe I will die.

- Ruyax