ALLEN 13
LAVI 17
LENALEE 16
KANDA 18
…
"Stop it!" Allen bats Lavi's hand away, earning a laugh.
"Hey, I haven't been able to bother you all this time, I'm just making up for it." Lavi pokes at Allen's face again.
"Lavi!" Allen glares at him.
"What?" Lavi laughs again, using his free hand to run through Allen's hair. "It's been too long since I've seen you like this, it's a little surreal."
"Yes, I get it." Allen huffs.
"I think it suits you." Daisya grins.
"Thanks?" Allen shrugs. He glances back at Lavi. "You know, it's been red longer than it's been like this."
"I never saw you without it the first time, though." Lavi defends.
"If you guys keep being so noisy, we're going to get kicked out." Lenalee rolls her eyes, unable to disguise the smile on her face. She pushes aside a small stack of books in front of her, letting it join the growing mountain on their preferred table.
"Aw, she wouldn't do that." Lavi waves his hand dismissively. He sends a quick grin to Daisya. "The librarian loves us."
"Somehow I doubt that." Allen says.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lavi turns to pout at him.
"Nothing at all." Allen turns away from him, instead looking over to Kanda by the window. "Still being emo?"
"Shut up." Kanda huffs, looking at them in the window's reflection.
"He's just mad that he got kicked out of the training ground." Lavi laughs.
"What?" Allen turns back. "What happened?"
"He got tired of the training dummies." Lavi grins. "Started tearing up the walls for kicks."
"Really?" Allen laughs, glancing over at Kanda. "That's what's got you so down?"
"He gets itchy if he doesn't get any action." Lavi wiggles his eyebrow. "In any sense of the word."
"Lavi!" Lenalee sends him a glare.
"What?" Lavi raises his hands in surrender.
"Not to mention that we're not allowed out for missions for a while." Daisya groans. "Last time the Order wasn't so uptight."
"They're just being more careful." Lenalee shakes her head. "I don't mind it myself."
"Careful?" Allen chimes in, confused. "Did something happen?"
"Hm?" Lenalee turns to him, eyes widening. "Oh, right, you don't know yet."
"What?" Allen looks between the three. "What did I miss?"
"Go ahead, Lena-lady." Lavi quickly turns to Lenalee.
"Yeah, you do it." Daisya sinks into the table.
"You guys…" Lenalee shakes her head before looking over at Allen. "It's… about Tarren and Sal, Sal Aafjes, I mean."
"Oh her." Allen nods. "I think I remember meeting her."
"She came with General Zilberschlag to help us and Tarren." Lenalee gestures to Daisya.
"They told me that you saw a Noah, I think." Allen nods. "I, uh, couldn't really hear anything after that."
"Well, in short, we lasted long enough for the backup to come." Lenalee says. "But, after they did…" She grimaces. "Me and Daisya got out already, the General too, but…" She seems at a loss for words.
Allen doesn't speak either, the tension slowly growing.
"They, uh, they didn't make it, Al." Lavi says, finally. "Tarren, she, uh, she was already dead once they got her into the infirmary."
"Sal, she-" Lenalee takes a deep breath. "She lost both her legs. She- She passed away a couple days later."
"…I-" Allen's expression drops. "…Dammit."
"Sorry for dropping this all on you." Lenalee says quickly. "But, Bailey's not letting any of us out for a little while. Only the Finders are out, and even then it's just a few."
"They're trying to figure out what the Noah are up too." Lavi says. "Before they let us out again, they need to at least be sure the same thing won't happen."
"I… I see." Allen nods stiffly. "Okay."
"Hey, at least we're here, right?" Lavi says, trying to re-cheer his voice. "I mean, at least we're not stuck in Germany, like, after the rewinding town?" He turns to Allen expectantly.
"That's where I first met you and Bookman." Allen grimaces, remembering the quick consequences. "You hit me with a snowball."
"Oh, yeah." Lavi laughs.
"And then you called me 'sprout'." Allen expression darkens.
"Haha, yeah, I guess." Lavi inches over, sliding down the long bench.
"You're luckily that I'm stuck in this." Allen huffs, glaring down at his wheelchair.
"I guess I am." Lavi quickly steps around the table, taking a seat beside Lenalee, placing the girl in-between them.
"Honestly?" Lenalee fixes Lavi with a glare.
"Hehe." Lavi waves.
…
"Yes, I see." Bailey frowns, phone to his ear. "Yes, of course… Thank you, yes. Good bye." He carefully places the receiver down, resisting the urge to slam it down. "…Shit."
"Sir?" Grace stands by his side, filtering through a small stack of papers.
"Can you go find Asher for me?" Bailey asks, sinking into his seat dejectedly.
"O-Of course!" Grace nods, stepping away from the desk. Before she leaves, she quickly glances back at the tired man. "Did something happen, sir?"
"It seems so." Bailey grimaces. "Things just got a little more complicated."
…
"Che." Ecan pauses in front of the grand doors. Beyond, he can hear muffled voices, muffled laughter. He misses his cigarettes, but Bailey had a strict no-smoking policy within headquarters.
Without further hesitation, he slams the doors open.
All eyes spin to meet his immediately. The librarian, sitting at her desk a little ways away, fixes him with a sharp glare that he just ignores. No, he just focuses on the pairs of startled eyes at one particular table.
"…Eh?" Lavi speaks first, mouth dropping open.
"What?" Ecan steps forward. "You didn't think you could avoid me forever, did you?"
"Avoid you?" Allen mutters, watching Ecan with a sharp eye.
"Hah, what was that?" Ecan stops right in front of Allen, leaning over to become level.
"You…" Allen's expression hardens. "Stupid Master!" He aims a punch right at Cross' face.
"Oi,oi." Cross catches his fist with a grin. "Relax."
"Shut up!" Allen, with a newfound energy, pushes himself upwards, using his other hand to hit Cross squarely in the face.
"Ow!" Cross backs up, releasing Allen. He does, however, recover quickly with a grin. "You're still feisty when you're stuck in a chair."
"Shut up." Allen scowls, lowering himself back into his wheelchair. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm offering some help." Cross says, sliding forward again.
"Eh, you're really the General?" Daisya leans over the table.
"Your hair looks ridiculous." Allen says. "You look ridiculous."
"What was that?" Cross turns to glare pointedly at Allen.
"You heard me." Allen scoffs. "What are you, some wanna-be punk going through his mid-life crisis?"
"Watch it, brat." Cross turns away, looking over at the others. "Is that all the welcome I get?"
"Shut up." Allen mutters, turning away from him too.
"You knew it was us?" Lavi asks, curious. "The whole time?"
"I'm not an idiot." Cross scoffs. "You are too obvious, running around in your little pack together."
"Get to the point." Allen huffs. "What do you want?"
"Why are you assuming that I want anything?" Cross asks.
"You've been… hiding this whole time." Allen says. "Why are you here now?"
"Hmph, whatever." Cross shrugs. "True enough, I figured now was the right time." He looks pointedly at Allen. "I need to talk to you."
"Then talk." Allen crosses his arms.
"Hmph." Cross sighs. "Somewhere else."
"Why?" Allen raises an eyebrow at him.
"You need to be a little more careful in choosing your haunts." Cross says, glancing over at the librarian at the other side of the room.
"…Fine." Allen lets out an exaggerated sigh. "But, I'm still going to tell everyone whatever you say."
"Fine."
…
"Where are we going?" Reluctantly, Allen lets Cross push his wheelchair down the hallways.
"My room." Cross says, watching Allen carefully out of sight.
"You're really creepy." Allen sighs.
"What did you say about me?" Cross frowns.
"You're creepy, Master." Allen repeats, shifting his position to look up at the man. "Looks like some things never change."
"Just like how you never stop being a brat." Cross shoots back.
They stop in front of a small door, identical to the one to Allen's room, or any other. Cross doesn't say anything as he wheels Allen inside. Allen himself is surprised at how decent the place is. Curtains are spread wide open, filling the room with bright sunlight that shines off the dozen or so liquor bottles over the shelf.
"You really have a problem, Master." Allen eyes the bottles.
"Don't talk like you know anything." Cross says. He steps away from Allen and goes to sit on the bed. He leans up against the wall so that he can face Allen properly.
"
So?" Allen frowns. "What is this about?"
"Ah, tell him that I'm here." Neah, after a long silence, interjects.
"If this is about Neah, then you can just talk." Allen says. "…He's here."
"Is that right?" Cross frowns. "'Here'?"
"Yes." Allen says.
"Can you hear him?" Cross asks.
"Yes." Allen nods. "He's annoying. I guess it makes sense that you two were friends."
"He's not my friend." Neah huffs.
"'Friend'." Cross scoffs. "Sure."
"Both of you just said that." Allen rolls his eyes. "Whatever."
"What happened?" Cross asks.
"What?" Allen repeats, confused.
"You know-" Cross gestures vaguely to Allen. "-people thought you were dead."
"Oh." Allen nods. "Neah, uh, he explained some of it."
…
"That was weird." Daisya stares at the closed door.
"As usual." Lavi nods seriously. "…I wonder what they're talking about."
"Allen said that he'd tell us, right?" Lenalee says. "Then, just be patient."
"Boring." Lavi sighs.
"Don't even think about bothering them." Lenalee adds quickly. "They need the privacy."
"What's this about?" Daisya asks.
"Ah, Allen and Cross' relationship is…" Lavi frowns. "Weird."
"They fight a lot." Daisya points out.
"They do, yeah." Lenalee nods. "But, I think they do really care about each other." Her expression drops sadly. "After General Cross died, Allen was really torn up about it."
"Oh." Daisya nods slowly. He glances over at Kanda. "Reminds me of someone."
…
"What's up Lexer?" Asher skips into the office.
"Asher." Bailey sits up to look at her. "I wanted to ask you a few things."
"Sure!" Asher slides into the chair across from him.
"There wasn't anyone else I could ask about this." Bailey starts. "I thought, of anyone, you'd have some answers."
"Get to it, Lexer." Asher smiles. "Hit me with it."
"It's…" Bailey takes a deep breath. "General Akiyama, as you know, has been out in the field for the last week."
"Yeah?" Asher nods. "He's meant to be back soon, right? I mean, you wanted everyone back already."
"Yes." Bailey nods. "However, over the last few days, he's avoided meeting back with any Finders." He sighs. "We haven't been able to make contact."
"I'm sensing a 'but' here." Asher nods again.
"They just found him." Bailey finishes. "Off the coast of Ireland."
"Off the coast?" Asher frowns. "Like, in the water?"
"Yes." Bailey nods. "Some locals pulled him out of the water. He's recovering fine, however."
"So?" Asher presses.
"They couldn't find his Innocence anywhere." Bailey says. "Apparently, once the General woke up, he claimed that a Noah had taken it."
"'Taken'? Not destroyed, then." Asher says.
"He was being very persistent about that." Bailey says. "The Noah were, apparently, very careful to retrieve the Innocence undamaged." He looks at Asher desperately. "Do you know why?"
"I don't know…" Asher leans back thoughtfully. "There aren't any obvious reasons that the Noah would even want Innocence, it being their mortal enemy and all." She shakes her head. "I could look into it, if you'd like."
"That'd be great." Bailey nods, no stress relieved from his expression.
"Don't worry too much." Asher adds as she gets up. "I mean, all the other exorcists are grounded, right?"
"Yeah, you're right." Bailey sighs. "I'll be looking forward to your report."
…
ah, sorry that this took so long T^T Love from,
Thanks for sticking with it anyways!
The Cheese Wizzard
:)