A/N: *grin* Hey, the story isn't dead! I was actually worried for a while there, but no, this is fine. *laugh* Hope y'all haven't left!
Thank you to PipeDreamPrayer, clearmind-clearheart, Morlana, arxmuse, Lancelot Du Loc, CaitiAthena, Laesk, Shadow Spears, pikaree1, karina001, Blackheads, jy24, AllenCuteWalker, SakuraKoi, Purifiedwate, in-silent-sea, Quiet Leaf, Lena-luvs-cats, Candy Crackpot, lizyeh2000, and 1 guest for reviewing!
Title: Blackberry Bushes
Author: liketolaugh
Rating: T
Pairings: None
Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Adventure
Warnings: AU
Summary: That night after Allen turns Mana into an akuma, it isn't Cross Marian who picks him up. It's Tiedoll.
Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man.
Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry-
Allen's claws ripped through the last akuma with an earsplitting screech, and it fell to dust, leaving him alone in the middle of the street, now decorated with cracks and bullet holes along more than half the block.
Allen himself was crouched near the sidewalk, wide-eyed and struggling to catch his breath while poison akuma dust itched at his throat. His Innocence deactivated with a thought, and he reached toward his right arm, hissing when his rough hand hit the painful scrape stretching from his elbow to his shoulder. His face ached along one side, sure to bruise, and he was shaking.
Apropos of nothing, the thought I can't let them take me from Tiedoll flashed across his mind.
It took him a moment to stop gasping, and tears – from stress and pain – blurred his vision when he tilted his head up with the vague intention of finding Toma.
A flash of movement made him turn his head, and he caught a glimpse of blond hair. He bit his cheek, muscles loosening in exhaustion.
His watcher.
Allen took a deep breath and then, fluidly, rose to his feet, wobbling just a little, and reached up to dry his eyes. He waited a moment, two, and when he was sure his voice would be steady, he called,
"Mister Toma? It's safe now."
A few moments passed, but before Allen had the time to grow truly nervous, Toma appeared from one of the alleys, looking shaken but unharmed. He even still had his pack.
"I can bandage that scrape, Mister Allen," Toma offered, voice pitched up just slightly from stress.
Allen's demeanor faltered, and his left hand made a false start toward the injury again before he stopped it.
"At the station," he requested, tipping his head over his shoulder to look that way. Glancing back at Toma, he added, "I'm okay, though, really." He formed a smile that hurt his cheek and probably didn't look near sincere enough, and reached into his jacket, producing the Innocence with a flourish. "And this is, too!"
Toma relaxed, just a little. Good. He still approached, though, coughing on the poison dust cloud and pointedly guiding out of it with a light push against his shoulder. Satisfied, Allen put the Innocence away again and didn't look for his watcher.
"You're bleeding, Allen," Toma pointed out, as if worried Allen hadn't noticed. He kept their pace steady but slow; Allen hoped they wouldn't miss their train. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Allen ached all over, he was covered in bruises and scrapes, and he'd already torn his nice new uniform because the first akuma's explosion had sent him skidding along the road. He shrugged.
"I'm okay," he repeated, shifting away a little for emphasis.
Toma still looked concerned, but he let it go, for which Allen was relieved; they were still being watched, he was sure, even if he couldn't see them, wouldn't look.
They reached the station ten minutes before the train was due to arrive, which was both a relief and a surprise; fights always screwed with Allen's sense of time.
They found a place to sit and wait, skirting around anyone who might stop and question them. Once they were settled, Toma conjured a first aid kit out of his pack, and opened it to reveal, among other things, a roll of clean bandages and a bottle of water. Allen, seeing where he was going with this, shrugged off one sleeve of his jacket, freeing his right arm.
Taking the bandages, Toma snipped a length off, soaked it in water, and handed Allen the bottle, warning him, "I'm going to wash your arm now."
Allen nodded quietly, and then winced as Toma started to scrape lightly at the torn skin. He took a deep drink to distract himself, glancing anxiously over the platform to make sure there weren't any more akuma lying in wait. They weren't done yet, and most akuma attacks, Tiedoll had told him, happened on the way back.
Sometimes even on the train. Allen suppressed a sigh.
"You're very determined to stay with your current master," Toma remarked quietly – trying to distract Allen himself, Allen thought. He nodded.
"General Cross is strange," he confessed, frowning a little. "He wants something from me, I think. I don't know what." He hissed as Toma scraped a little too hard, and then immediately wanted to chide himself. He drank a little more instead, and then continued, "Master Tiedoll is just- nice, I think. He does this because someone will, and he wants it done his way." A beat, uncertain, and then, "He just wants people to be safe. You can see it in his Innocence."
What did Allen's Innocence say?
"I have never had the honor of seeing General Tiedoll's Innocence," Toma said, so dry it was nearly deadpan, and Allen laughed quietly.
"It fits," Allen assured him, but didn't try to explain further. Tiedoll's Innocence was something best seen for yourself, really. There wasn't a way to explain 'giant fighting statues' that sounded safe instead of terrifying.
A few more moments passed, and Toma finished cleaning the scrape.
"General Tiedoll has other apprentices, doesn't he?" Toma asked, moving to bandage Allen's arm now.
Allen nodded again. "I've met them. We get along, I think." He hesitated a little, biting off his uncertainty. Not well enough. I'm too new, too unfamiliar, causing too much trouble already-
But Tiedoll was so patient, so fretful and anxious at the thought of Allen's death, and he'd been so determined to keep him – so sure that Allen would get along with the others.
Allen would return it tenfold, he promised himself. He would make himself worth it.
The train arrived just a minute after Toma tied off the bandage, and Allen slipped the remains of his ruined sleeve back onto his arm. The train whistled, and Allen hopped to his feet, twisting slightly to give Toma a bright, earnest smile.
"Master will be happy to hear the mission went so well!" he chirped. "And I have a new record now! He'll be proud of me. Come on!"
*bounce* So it's still bizarrely short for me, but I'm at least pleased with it and that's an improvement. *smile* Thanks for reading, and please review!