Disclaimer - I do not own DGM

A/N - I would once again like to thank the reviewers for the tremendous support that you guys have offered to me. Thanks to: TeenageNeko, 14th Noah, Arceus the Creator, key46812, LadyDrago88, LyssiBug, Lelouch, truegenius13, fan girl 666, Howlingwolf94, Jenaminya, Peculiar Top hat, Genis Reigal - Element Star, crazy DGM fan, Noah of Faith, mysticwolf1896, whisperypath, and BlueStar! Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews for the last chapter! You're all awesome!

Chapter Twenty-Nine - New Tricks

The trip to the circus did the trick, so to speak, and afterward Allen reverted back to the happy child that Mana had always known. Seeming to have forgotten the horrors of his first, failed friendship he went back to spending most of his time with his adopted father and his little dog. The trip also had another side effect but Mana learned that a couple of days later.

Things were quiet around the house, which of course was a warning sign. Getting to his feet Mana resolved to find his child. Because he just knew that Allen was getting into some mischief, owing to the silence.

"Allen…"

Mana received no response from the little boy, which only added to the fear that he was doing something that he shouldn't. Quickening his pace Mana made his way up the stairs to the little boy's room. When Mana reached the second floor he made his way down the hall to Allen's room. Reaching out he quickly grasped the door handle, pulling it open. There, in the middle of the room, was the child.

"Allen," Mana said as he stepped inside the room. He gazed at the boy, a questioning expression in his brown eyes. "What exactly are you doing?"

The child was just standing there.

Mana opened his mouth to repeat the question when the little boy suddenly bounded across the room. Now this was the only room in the house where Allen was allowed to be rambunctious so Mana didn't say anything. But that was mainly because he wanted to know what the little boy was doing. When the child was halfway across the room he threw himself forward, at which point it became painfully obvious what he was doing. Allen was attempting to perform some of the acrobatic moves that he had witnessed at the circus.

Mana's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the little boy do a handspring. It wasn't exactly graceful, since Allen barely managed to regain his balance at the end. But he did it.

"Such a little clown," the man thought to himself as he continued to watch the little boy.

Allen didn't even seem to notice that Mana was in the room. He seemed completely wrapped up in what he was doing and, after a few minutes, the child attempted a new trick. This time Allen did a series of awkward cartwheels, circling the room.

At this point Allen turned his attention to Mana, offering him the ghost of a smile.

"So he did know that I was here," Mana muttered as he watched the child turn away from him. It didn't appear as though Allen was finished with his little acrobatic display.

The child stood still for a moment, as though preparing for something. Mana gazed at the kid, trying to discern what he was attempting. It wasn't immediately obvious but when the child leapt into the air his intention became all too clear. And Mana felt his heart leap into his throat as the realization struck him. Hard.

Allen was attempting a back flip.

Unfortunately this attempt failed, sending the child sprawling to the ground. Mana stood, his gaze locked on the little boy, waiting for Allen to get to his feet.

But that wasn't what happened.

Mana jumped slightly as Allen began to cry. After all it was a rare occurrence for the little boy to be reduced to tears and it instantly put Mana on edge. Feeling his pulse rate quicken Mana immediately rushed to the little boy's side. Kneeling down Mana pulled the child into his arms and began to check him for broken bones, his heart pounding in his chest the entire time. The voice in the back of his head was pleading the entire time that Allen hadn't broken any bones or caused himself any other type of serious injury.

"Shh," Mana soothed, attempting to distract the child from his pain. "It's okay Allen. We're just going to check and make sure that you didn't break any bones."

Despite being somewhat soothed by Mana's calm words Allen continued to whimper softly as the man felt of his arms and legs. However he cried out the instant that Mana touched his right ankle, no longer the least bit calm. "Hurts!" the little boy shrieked.

"I'm sorry," Mana apologized as he scooped the little boy up into his arms, cuddling him close for a moment. He carefully got to his feet, making certain not to jostle Allen. "I didn't mean to hurt you Allen."

"Hurts," Allen said again, his voice softer this time. The little boy buried his face in Mana's shirt, at the same time clutching the fabric with both small hands.

"I know," Mana said in a gentle voice as he carried the child over to his bed. Using one hand to support Allen, he used the other to position the pillows at the head of the bed so that Allen could lean up against them. Then he placed the child on the bed, with his back pressed against the stack of pillows. Sitting down on the edge of the bed Mana untied the child's shoe and carefully removed it. Which elicited still more tears from the distraught Allen. "I'm sorry Allen," Mana apologized once again, feeling distinctly guilty. He hated the fact that he was causing the child more pain but he needed to assess the severity of the injury.

And for that he needed to see it.

So, with this thought in mind, Mana removed Allen's sock, as gently as possible. Then he rolled up the leg of Allen's trousers and gazed down at the child's ankle, which was already beginning to swell.

"Well that's not good," Mana muttered to himself, beginning to grow concerned with the situation. It had only taken minutes for the child's ankle to begin to swell, which he didn't like.

"I sorry," Allen said, tears still sliding down his face. Gazing up he mistook the concerned expression that adorned Mana's face for one of irritation and was instantly afraid that he had done something to anger the man.

"Shh," Mana whispered in a soothing voice. Reaching out he tenderly wiped a stray lock of brown hair from the boy's face. "You're going to be just fine. I'll call Dr. Baker and see if he can come over and have a look."

"No," Allen whined, shaking his head.

"Well that was pitiful," Mana said as he gazed at the child. He had thought that Allen had gotten over most of his aversion to people. And besides that fact, he had already seen Dr. Baker on a couple of occasions when he had been stricken with influenza. So why exactly was he protesting? "Why don't you want me to call the doctor Allen?"

"Don' like," Allen muttered.

"Well like or not I'm afraid that you're going to have to deal with it." The tone of Mana's voice left no room for argument from the child. "We have to make certain that you didn't break anything during that little acrobatic stunt."

"Not broke…" And, as though to prove his point, Allen made a move to get up.

Which Mana promptly prevented. "Oh no you don't," he said, capturing the child and positioning him back against the pillows. "You're going to sit right there until Dr. Baker has a look at that ankle."

"Father…" There was a plaintive tone in the little boy's voice.

Unfortunately for him Mana wasn't impressed by it.

"I mean it Allen," Mana said, eyeing the boy with one eyebrow raised. Normally he was far from strict with Allen but this time was different. He didn't want Allen to cause himself further injury and if he didn't put a stop to the boy's attempts to get down then that was exactly what was going to happen. "Not one move until I say so."

At this point Allen seemed to realize that Mana wasn't going to relent. The little boy crossed his arms over his chest, his lower lip sticking out slightly.

"That's a lovely face," Mana said, shaking his head as he made his way over to the door. He knew that Allen was attempting to gain his way by pouting but he refused to allow that to happen. This was one time, one of the few actually, when he wasn't going to give in to the child. "Remember Allen," he called out over his shoulder as he left the room. "Not one move."

Hoping that the little boy would obey his order Mana made his way downstairs to the sitting room. Walking across the room the man made his way to the phone. And as he dialed the number Mana found himself hoping that Allen's injury wasn't anything serious. Thankfully the doctor was in his office and agreed to make a house call. It helped that he had been the Walker family physician since Mana and his brother were small children. He was partial to the family and willing to go out of his way to help them. Mana thanked him and then placed the receiver of the phone back in it's place.

"I guess I should go back and make sure that he didn't move," Mana thought to himself once his call was complete. Even though he had been very precise with his orders he didn't entirely trust Allen to follow them.

Mana quickly made his way back up the stairs and then down the hall to Allen's room. The door was still open and Mana stepped inside quietly. His gaze immediately went to the bed in the center of the room and a smile spread across his face. Allen was still sitting on the bed, in the exact same position that he'd been in when Mana had left him.

And he still had the same expression on his face.

"I called Dr. Baker," Mana informed the child as he walked over to the bed. "And he should be here within the hour."

In response to this bit of unwelcome news Allen stuck out his tongue before turning his head away from Mana.

"Allen," Mana said, sitting down on the edge of the child's bed. He focused a somewhat stern gaze on Allen. "That wasn't nice."

Allen didn't even seem phased as he turned his head and gazed back, his gray eyes devoid of remorse.

"Look," Mana said, his gaze still focused on the child. The note of sternness was still contained in his voice as he spoke to the little boy. He felt sorry for Allen but this time he was determined that he wasn't going to give in. "I know that you're angry at me but you have to see the doctor."

"Not broke," Allen repeated, gazing up at Mana with a look that could only be described as pleading.

Reaching over Mana tousled the boy's already unruly hair, chuckling softly as he was reminded of his younger brother's rather rebellious streak. It appeared as though looks weren't the only thing that Allen had inherited from his father. Glancing down he saw a flash of something other than defiance in Allen's gray eyes. "You aren't scared are you Allen?"

"No!" Allen snapped, which was as good as an answer in the affirmative as far as Mana was concerned.

"Allen," Mana said. "You've met Dr. Baker before; what could you possibly have to be scared about?"

"Not scared," Allen maintained, although his eyes told a different story.

"You'll be fine," Mana assured the child. He wanted to say more to comfort Allen but a knock on the door interrupted him. Getting to his feet Mana placed a hand on Allen's shoulder. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Mana cast one last gaze in the child's direction before leaving the room and making his way downstairs. He quickly made his way to the front door and pulled it open, coming face to face with an older gentleman dressed in a brown suit.

"Good afternoon Mana," Dr. Baker said, nodding his head in the young man's direction.

"Good afternoon Dr. Baker," Mana said, gesturing for the gentleman to step inside. "Thank you so much for coming."

"Don't mention it," Dr. Baker said, offering Mana his hand. They shook hands briefly before Dr. Baker went straight to business. "So where is young Allen?"

"He's upstairs," Mana said, waving his hand in the general direction. "In his room."

"Well then," Dr. Baker said with a smile. "Let's go and take a look at that ankle of his."

"Alright." Mana led the way upstairs to Allen's room, with the doctor following along at his heels. The door was still ajar and Mana and Dr. Baker entered the room.

To find it seemingly empty.

"Allen," Mana groaned as he gazed at the empty bed. The bed where he had left an injured Allen lying mere minutes ago.

"Maybe he's less injured than previously thought," Dr. Baker suggested, his gaze shifting around the room.

Mana opened his mouth to say something but held his tongue as a strange sound met his ears. Walking across the room the man heard the sound again, causing him to immediately focus his attention on the bed. Or, to be more precise, underneath the bed.

Getting down on his hands and knees Mana pulled back the bedclothes to reveal… "Allen Nicholas Walker! I told you to stay put."

"Not last time," the little boy said from his spot beneath the bed.

The young man rolled his eyes at Allen's attempt to find a loophole in the orders that he had given. Not that it was really a very effective one. However he opted not to address that matter at the present moment because Mana could tell, by the tone of the child's voice, that Allen was in pain. Which he attributed to the fact that he had crawled underneath the bed. It seemed that this was more movement than his ankle could tolerate and had only served to make the situation worse. "Come on Allen… out."

The child mumbled complaints under his breath but obeyed the order none the less. He slowly crawled out from under the bed, wincing as he moved his ankle the wrong way. "Ow," he whimpered as he emerged.

"You see?" Mana said as he gently lifted the child and placed him back on the bed. "You should have stayed put like I told you."

Allen turned away.

Dr. Baker walked across the room, placing his black bag down on the floor beside the bed. "So Allen," he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "What exactly happened?"

Allen gazed at the man with wide gray eyes, keeping his mouth tightly closed. He still looked wary, which Mana had to admit surprised him somewhat.

What was the child so afraid of?

Realizing that Allen wasn't going to speak to him Dr. Baker reached out toward the boy's ankle, intent upon getting down to business.

"No," Allen whimpered, pulling away from the doctor's touch. Which caused tears to form in his eyes as he once again moved his ankle the wrong way. "Hurts."

"You're going to make this difficult aren't you Allen?" Dr. Baker asked the child, one eyebrow raised as he stared at the little boy. Being a fairly experienced physician this wasn't the first time that the elderly gentleman had dealt with a difficult child and he recognized the signs. However when he didn't receive any reply to this question the doctor once again made a move to examine the child's ankle.

Which prompted the child to once again pull away.

"Allen," Mana said, a slight note of warning in his voice.

"No," Allen whimpered, gazing up at Mana with tears in his gray eyes. "He gonna hurt it!"

"I know that you're hurt and scared," Mana said in an understanding tone. A tone that only subtly hinted at the frustration that the young man was beginning to feel due to Allen's rather uncooperative behavior. "But you have to let Dr. Baker take a look at your ankle."

Allen shook his head, a look of defiance in his gray eyes that looked out of place in such a young child. "No!"

"Okay," Dr. Baker said with a sigh, leaning forward and reaching into his bag. The child was beginning to grow upset and the doctor knew that this wouldn't make him any more cooperative. Which meant that it was time to do something about it. He rummaged around for a minute before pulling out a syringe and a small vial filled with an unknown substance. "I propose that it's time to give Allen here something to calm him down."

Mana nodded, giving the doctor his permission. He didn't really like the thoughts of drugging the child but it seemed to be the only way to gain his cooperation.

"NO!" Allen shrieked the moment his gray eyes fell upon the syringe. The child made a move to get down from the bed however Mana anticipated the move and quickly pulled the little boy into his arms. "Don' let him Father…" Allen pleaded, his voice quivering slightly.

"Shh," Mana said, placing his hand on the back of the child's head and pulling him close. "You'll be okay Allen."

"No," the little boy whimpered, shaking his head and pressing his face into the fabric of Mana's shirt.

Having filled the syringe by this time, Dr. Baker stood and turned back to Mana and Allen. "Could you hold him still for me please Mana?"

Mana nodded once again and tightened his grip on the small form in his arms.

Dr. Baker carefully rolled up the child's shirt sleeve and then held up the syringe. He gazed at Allen with a kind look in his eyes and spoke to the child in a soothing tone. "Little pinch Allen and then it'll all be over." Then, having said this, Dr. Baker administered the injection.

Mana held the little boy so that he couldn't pull away and then he comforted Allen once it was over. "See Allen… that wasn't so bad was it?"

Allen shook his head, his face still pressed against Mana's chest.

A couple of minutes passed and then Mana felt the little boy's body relax. Glancing down he saw that Allen's eyes were only partially open, as though he were on the verge of falling asleep. With a small smile on his face Mana placed Allen back in bed, confident that the child would stay there this time.

Once the child had been sedated Dr. Baker began his examination. Being as gentle as possible the doctor ran his hands along Allen's ankle, checking for any broken bones.

Allen whimpered softly but made no move to fight against the doctor. He was far too groggy from the drugs to put up any kind of a fight.

When he completed his exam Dr. Baker turned his attention back to Mana. "Despite the fairly significant swelling there appear to be no broken bones. Allen should be up and around in a couple of days and back to his normal behavior within a week."

"Thank you," Mana said, relieved to find out that Allen hadn't broken his ankle.

"Don't mention it," Dr. Baker said, once again reaching into his black bag. He pulled out a roll of bandages which he promptly began wrapping around Allen's ankle. "This should help with the swelling… just leave it around his ankle for a couple of days."

"Right," Mana said with a nod.

Reaching back into his bag Dr. Baker grabbed a couple of little paper packets. He offered the packets to Mana, who took them with a confused look in his eyes. "The sedative should keep him fairly comfortable for the rest of the day. Mix the contents of one of these in water and give it to him if he complains of being in pain."

"Right," Mana said once again.

"If you need anything else feel free to give me a call," Dr. Baker said, offering Mana a warm smile.

"Thank you doctor," Mana said, holding out his hand. "And I'm sorry about Allen. I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Don't worry about it," Dr. Baker said as he grasped Mana's hand and shook it. Having dealt with difficult children in the past, the doctor wasn't overly concerned by it. In fact there was one child in particular that he was very much reminded of. "He reminds me a great deal of his father actually. He was the same way as a child."

Mana hadn't given the subject any thought but with a chuckle he realized that the doctor was correct. Nicholas had been exactly the same way as a small boy. "You're right," he said with a soft chuckle, recalling the few times that the doctor had been called to treat his brother. Nicholas had given the poor man even more trouble than Allen had. "I'd forgotten about that."

"Take care of that little boy," Dr. Baker said as he turned to leave.

"Thank you," Mana said as he followed along behind the doctor. "I will."


Allen wasn't happy about the forced bed rest. And that was actually putting it mildly. Thankfully for both himself and Mana the child was up and walking two days after the accident.

"Now be careful," Mana said when he finally consented to let the child out of bed.

"'Kay!" the child said with a smile.

"So are you going to try any more of those stunts?" Mana asked. He kept his gaze locked on Allen as the little boy carefully made his way across the room.

Allen turned around and nodded. "Yep!"

"Of course you are," Mana thought to himself, not even sure why he was surprised. After all Allen had always been the determined type. "Just give your ankle a little more time to heal before you try any of that stuff again."

Allen smiled. "'Kay Father."

A/N - end of another chapter, hope that you enjoyed. Once again I'd like to extend my thanks to the people who are reading and enjoying this story. The next chapter shall wrap up this part of the story and chapter 31 shall shift gears entirely and the story will pick up. Please be kind enough to leave a review and tell me what you thought. Til next time, farewell!