"What do you think, Lavi~?" Rhode grinned ear to ear as she twirled once to show Lavi her new outfit. The white strapless dress had a skirt that resembled an upside down flower with holes in her sleeves and tights. It sure was very Rhode.

"Nice," Lavi replied. "What's the occasion?"

"The family's almost complete!" Rhode replied gleefully, offering him a box. "Everyone's finally awakening again."

It was true, though. Over the last few months, he'd met more members of the family, Noah who all seemed so different than the ones he'd come to know over the last nearly four years. He'd get to know all of them soon enough, at least that was his plan. Only two were missing now. Noah's wrath was still missing and one he didn't yet know. Who was the last one?

Lavi stared at the box and hoped dearly that it wasn't another outfit with ruffles. However, Lavi found it to be somewhat worse as he pulled it on and returned into the room. The outfit had a black shirt with a high collar but a section missing from the front in the shape of an elongated diamond, his scar from Kanda and the Noah's cross clearly visible now. There were no sleeves on the shirt but he had short fingerless black gloves to match and the shirt traced down his body, passing his hips, showing off his sleek physique.

The boots matched too. They felt different from his usual ones, more comfortable and durable, reaching up above the knee with an intricate design up the sides. The only item left white on him were his pants, the same ones he'd always worn. He chose them over the extra pants since they felt better, quite well broken in with a bit of familiarity.

He looked at himself in the mirror, tying his hair back. It had gotten long over the last few months after Rhode had quite sharply demanded he grow it longer. He kept the front somewhat trimmed but the back now reached down past his shoulders, leaving him to usually tie it back.

"It suits you," Tyki snickered. Lavi turned sharply and frowned at him, only to find Tyki had been doomed to a similar outfit completely in white, the scars he'd received from Allen's blade quite clearly visible. Tyki patted his human brother on the head. "Looks like ya have to suffer right along with us."

"Hey!" Rhode fussed, pushing her lips up into a pout. "I like these outfits!"

"You're the only one," Tyki frowned, pulling at his. "But Boss is calling. We have something to do, Rhode. We'll be back, Lavi." He ruffled his brother's hair.

Lavi frowned. Why weren't they taking him with them?

…

The Bookman sighed. It was deadly quiet without anyone in the house, save the akuma servants, who were generally quiet anyway. The outfit was bad enough but to be left alone without a clue what the rest of the family was doing was absolutely excruciating. He shuffled down the hall, book in hand, heading for the kitchen. Tea was calling him.

As he rounded the corner he found himself staring face to hair belonging to someone he'd never seen before. Messy white hair, grayed skin, strange white outfit, a long striped bandanna neatly folded to reveal three peculiar eyes on his forehead, each one staring at him.

"Noah's Bookman," he said suddenly.

Lavi nearly dropped the book he was carrying. How did he know? Who was this kid and why was he staring at him? Large hands wrapped around his shoulders. Lavi nearly jumped to the ceiling, too distracted by the kid to notice someone had walked up behind him.

"Ohoho~ . So you've now met our very own Bookman~" the Earl grinned from behind Lavi. "Lavi-pon~, this is Wisely, Noah's wisdom."

"Nice t' meetcha," Lavi grinned, pushing the obvious amounts of surprise aside. Wisdom. This kid, while somewhat freaky, might be an interesting Noah to speak with. Perhaps he'd have more insight on the family and its inner workings, perhaps a few juicy secrets as well.

"Likewise." Wisely could read Lavi like a book. This kid was definitely the Noah's Bookman in every way possible. He had considered the Earl had been controlling Lavi, but on looking slightly deeper he learned Lavi was of his own free will and was dearly hated by the Exorcists. "Join us then. I have something to tell everyone."

…

Including the Earl, the Noah sat at the table, only one chair remained empty. The Earl sat at the head, Wisely at the foot. Even the twins had shown up. It was quite a sight to see that many Noah in one place. The power that was in this room alone was intense. The Exorcists had no idea what was coming. Lavi, contrary to the rest, stood against the wall, his arms folded across the strange shirt Rhode had forced upon him earlier that day. He wasn't going to miss this for the world. He didn't want to impede on the meeting, so he simply stood on the sidelines, yet at the same time, he had a strange desire to sit among them.

"Lavi-pon~ , what are you doing?" the Earl spoke up, turning to the Bookman's form, barely visible on the edge of the room.

Lavi's attention shifted to the Earl sharply. "Huh?"

He patted the table in front of the empty seat next to him. "Sit. You're family~ ."

He had considered objecting but offending the Earl was the last thing on his mind. There was also that strange feeling of acceptance he had been invited to sit among the Noah. There were a few confused looks from some of the newer members, but the originals simply grinned. They'd come to know him as their younger human brother and to have him at the table was perfectly acceptable. He dressed like them, wore their emblem; they wondered why he wasn't in that seat in the first place.

The family meeting quickly resumed once Lavi had taken his seat, and Rhode had taken it upon herself to cling to his arm happily. He was hers, after all.

Wisely had information. Very good information which could curb the war in their favor easily. "In the American branch of the Order, a project has been going on to create artificial Exorcists by combining Akuma and humans. They've been successful in creating such abominations by experimenting on their own allies."

Experimenting on their own kind? Lavi had heard and seen so many twisted ideas manifesting in war to give one side an advantage but to experiment on their own allies? There was something rather sickening about that. Humans could be so disgusting at times.

"The Alma Karma was the first successful hybrid," Wisely continued. "He's been stuck in a suspended state for years. The second serves the Order."

Lavi couldn't help wonder where Wisely had retrieved this information, but he was the Noah's Wisdom. He had to have learned it somewhere. Or he just knew. The latter seemed more the case. The more he listened to Wisely speak of these experiements, the more Lavi found himself becoming disgusted with the Order, almost to the point of feeling physically sick. The conspiracy to kill him, their attempts at killing the Noah, and now this. He felt like he was going to throw up.

Glancing around the table, Lavi found several of the Noah were frowning, disgusted, as well. He wasn't alone in his thought of how despicable the Order really was. The older Noah seemed uneasy but the news wasn't entirely unexpected. Tyki seemed more shocked than anything else. Some of the newer members seemed incredibly displeased with the Order's work, others outright disgusted.

"The plan?" Wisely continued, his expression remaining somewhat flat as he knitted his hands in front of him on the table. "We use the active second to wake the sleeping one and use them both to destroy the Order."

…

Author's notes:

Surprise time jump! This is a parallel to manga chapter 187 when Hoshino-sensei seems to jump time and amass almost all the Noah together suddenly. I couldn't quite picture for what Lavi had been doing during that time jump (except observing and being dragged out for cake, of course), so I put a time jump in as well.