A/N: So in case some of you reading this story aren't followers of Shaera's stories, she and I are working on another co-writ RP/Fanfic for a DGM crossover with Skyrim. Same as this one, we both did writing on it for different characters and she posted it to her account, so you guys should go read it. Just find her account name, Shaerahaek(which is also linked on my main profile), it's the one titled Of Swindlers, Butchers, and Wyrms. Not much revealed of the plot for that one, but I promise you, we have much epicness in store for that story 8D

White Demon, Red Scribe, Black Nightmare
A D Gray-Man and Assassins Creed Revelations Crossover

Lavi yawned and stretched his arms above his head, regrettably feeling as though he hadn't gotten nearly enough hours. His nap the other day after he'd read to Allen and the man had fallen asleep proved to make it difficult for him to sleep himself after he'd returned to his own place, not to mention he'd had some work to do on his records once he returned as well.

Judging by the barely light sky, he couldn't have gotten more than three hours. The urge to flop back on his side and let part of the day go by was irresistibly tempting, but he forced himself to rise anyway.

Besides, Allen was going to need his breakfast, and Lavi himself had barely eaten recently too, and he needed to go and get some more things fresh for cooking. He cleaned himself up lightly before stepping outside, the streets not too busy just yet, but that wouldn't last long.

He made his way to the market near the docks, settling for some fish, vegetables, and rice. He could always make some sort of stew out of it, then. Plus some bread and soft goat cheese. Allen would probably like that as well. He certainly knew he would, his own stomach already rumbling.

He considered whether or not to make something for Kanda. Perhaps it would help him get on the man's good side, or at least a little closer to it. On the other hand, maybe it would just make the ungrateful ass more pissed off instead, because it wasn't his favorite kind of food or something.

Knowing my luck with him so far, I'll accidentally make something he's allergic to, and he'll accuse me of trying to poison him. He smirked at the mental image.

Heading back with ingredients in tow, he propped the door to his place open and lit the inside of a small, stone oven, stoking the fire and letting it warm up while he went about preparing everything; gathering water in a pot, chopping vegetables, and flaying the fish, tossing the skin just outside of the door. He pulled up a chair once he had everything cooking and caught some movement out of the corner of his eye, smiling as he eyed a thin, stray cat that was helping itself to the scaled fish skins on the street near his open door. The animal eyed him as it caught his stare and disappeared hurriedly with all that was left stuffed and dangling out of its jaws.

Lavi smirked wider and returned to preparing the food, making up one small dish for himself and the rest for Allen, as well as the special tea.

Packing it all up so that the stuff wouldn't get cold, he finished preparing himself to leave, and then promptly went to find the Galata den. Quite a few of the assassins were around when he returned, though many of them looked exhausted and skittish, as if they were just waiting for something to come crashing down and attack them any second. And since they had never seemed so worried about the hunter or anyone else doing so before Kanda had shown up and started raging, he could easily guess it was the Nightmare himself that they were worried about above all else.

Traipsing past them, he headed toward Allen's - technically Kanda's, but whatever - room, pausing outside to knock and waited. And waited. The invitation, however, never came, so he sighed aloud. There were only three possibilities; that they weren't in, that they didn't hear his knock(asleep, maybe), or he was being ignored. Somehow, he guessed the third was most likely.

He imagined that Kanda's opinion of him had only gone south since yesterday's happenings, rather than improved.

"Guess I gotta wait," he mused, taking up a seat somewhere to the side of the door, leaning his back against the wall. He'd considered just leaving the food there, but it might get kicked over by accident. Or Kanda might kick it over on purpose just to spite him and claim it was an accident, with how he'd glared at the food Lavi had made the day before.

Kanda heard him knock.

He actually heard him coming up the stairs and down the hall, but he wanted to see if Allen wakes up - which he didn't until the knock echoed though the door. He lay in wait until the white-haired stirred from his sleep and slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent him from calling the annyoing rabbit inside.

His reward for the action was a nasty glare and an eyeroll.

"Shh." Kanda put a finger to his lips.

Allen rolled his eyes again and pulled Kanda's hair none too lightly. The man mirrored the glare and tsked as his sat up, still not removing his hand.

"Just pretend we're not here," he whispered with a nasty grin, and just as he thought that Allen had given up, he felt a sharp pain in his hand. "Are you serious?" Kanda replied in a harsh whisper, retracting his hand quickly. "Why would you bite me!"

"Because you're being an idiot and my breakfast is waiting outside!" came the reply.

"You fucking glutton, can you think about something else than food for once?"

"Yes! How about my health?!" Allen snapped, but still keeping his voice in a murmur. "Now put on some clothes 'cause I'm calling him in!"

Kanda growled but complied - even though his face showed exactly how happy he was with Allen's orders.

Moving to the other end of the bed, he reached for his clothes, and at that moment, Allen apparently thought it would be very funny to nudge him with his foot, which resulted in Kanda almost tumbling to the floor in all his naked glory. Luckily for him, he caught himself on the window sill in the last second.

Allen burst out laughing, quickly grabbing the blanket and pulling it out of Kanda's reach so he could cover himself before Lavi came in.

"Hurry up, I'm hungry!" he said between giggles.

Kanda hastily laced the pants just as Allen shouted at Lavi to come in.

At least he didn't have to wait long.

Lavi pushed himself to his feet with the wall, picking the food up along with him, before he opened the door to saunter in with a grin, pretending not to notice Kanda and not daring to tease him again today just yet. At least not until he figured out how testy the man was today, and in turn, exactly how much he could get away with.

"Special delivery for the healing 'sprout!" he joked, holding it out for the man. " 'should be cooled enough now that you can eat it without risking tongue-burn too. 'never fun when your food burns ya too much to even taste it, after all, 'specially in your case."

Allen stretched his bare legs in front of him and leaned his back against the wall. "Hmm," he sniffed the air, "smells delicious! I totally wouldn't mind if this happened every morning." He took the bowl and bread, putting it in his lap. He started eating, though more slowly than was usual for him, idly crossing his legs as he watched Kanda gather his things that have been scattered across the floor.

"Where's my hair tie?" he mumbled, turning around, his eyes scanning the room.

Allen hummed contently. "Just keep looking," he mumbled, smirking shamelessly as he raked Kanda's body with his eyes. Breakfast in bed AND a gratis strip show. And it was only morning.

"And I wouldn't mind making you something every morning, if you want," Lavi grinned. He suppressed it down to a smirk as he heard Allen's words at the same moment as he was watching Kanda, even though Lavi wasn't paying the black-haired man much mind himself.

Kanda huffed and plopped back onto the bed next to the other assassin, stealing a piece of fish from the bowl. Allen whined and tried to slap his hand away but the raven-haired man only smirked and quickly put the meat in his mouth.

"Not salty enough." He commented, totally ignoring Lavi as the redhead rolled his eye.

"I didn't make it with you in mind anyway. If you want 'salty', go lick the bottom of the Marmara or something," he quipped.

Kanda cocked an eyebrow at the redhead, watching him from the corner of his eye.

"I know something better to lick." He said, loud enough only for Allen to hear.

The assassin choked on his food suddenly, his face going red. "Despicable."

Kanda only grinned.

"You've got work to do, get out!" Allen commanded, nudging the other man with his leg again. "Shoo."

The sword-wielding assassin grumbled some more but slid of the bed again, going back to dressing up. Lavi could only blink in question, knowing that the man had said something but low enough that he hadn't caught what it was.

Oh well, probably wasn't important.

"So what are your plans for today, Lavi?"

"This may come as a surprise but I didn't have a lot planned for today, other than maybe updating my records," he hummed, taking a seat on the floor next to the bed, same spot as before, and propping his head on the edge of it. "I might just nap part of the day away, honestly. I was up pretty late doing some work back at my place, and you know me and my sleep, though I should probably just wait for nighttime. Anyway, is the food to your liking?"

"Food is great!" Allen chirped, but couldn't say more since Kanda had to butt in again.

"Oh, so you've nothing productive to do today!" he said nonchalantly, eyeing the redhead up and down. "Excellent." He grabbed his sword, securing it on his belt. Allen raised an eyebrow, his looking between Kanda's back and Lavi's face in question. "You're going on a mission with me," Kanda announced, totally disregarding any excuse Lavi might come up with.

"What? Why?" Lavi squawked, not sounding terribly fond of the idea and visibly pouting. "Maybe I'd rather stay here amongst pleasant company. Ones that aren't likely to gut me just for existing in the same space."

Kanda stared at him blankly, crossing his arms on his chest. "We don't need loiterers here." He smiled then - if one could call bared teeth and a nose scrunched in the most arrogant kind of way a smile - and continued. "You'll be fine."

Allen stared at him with his mouth gaping. "You're not going to lead him away and kill him, right?" he asked with a frown.

The assassin tsked again, his mouth now forming a sarcastic grin. "No." He marched away, dragging Lavi behind him by the collar.

Allen mutely stared after them, waving faintly.

I hope Lavi's going to be alright...

Lavi grumbled something in another language, casting a wistful glance back at Allen just before the man was gone from his sight.

"I hope you mean that instead of just placating," he tossed at Kanda, following more willingly now since it didn't seem like Kanda wanted to give him much of a choice. "But just so you know, if you do kill me, I'll haunt you for all eternity. I'll be the most annoying ghost you've ever heard about, an' there won't be anything you can do to get rid of me then." After a moment, he also added, "And I'll curse you with nothing but infinite bad hair days. Hell, forget the hair, I'll curse you with being bald."

Kanda smirked. "Good thing I don't believe in ghosts."

" 'doesn't matter if you don't believe in ghosts, I'll still haunt you," Lavi returned, feeling like maybe he should take the smirk as somewhat of a victory. Maybe the guy had a sense of humor after all!

He wasn't really sure yet what sort of 'mission' Kanda had in mind for them both, but he was increasingly aware of two facts as they walked.

One was that they weren't alone, the redhead being aware of it since almost immediately after they left the den. The answer he didn't have was whether it was because Kanda had told his other men to tail them and keep watch for some reason, or if the other assassins were discreetly following the two men at their own personal discretion.

The other was that the path Kanda led him down wasn't coincidental. Very much deliberate. He had been sure that they were headed the way they were for a reason from the start, since Kanda didn't seem to type to indulge in anything pointless which would therefore not be worth the energy expended, but he was more aware of why after they stopped suddenly on one of the streets and started asking him things, like how he would, hypothetically, handle the situation if they were to be ambushed right then and there.

Lavi simply shrugged and went on to explain what courses of action would be available, given all the factors to account for. Really, it wasn't a hard question, and he didn't seem to have earned any favor with his answer.

So they moved on, and Kanda asked him again from elsewhere. And another time.

Lavi was noticing that each new location Kanda asked him about how he would handle a battle or an ambush of some kind was progressively more complicated than the last, having many more factors to account for, and he was making it specifically a scenario where there was no running away, only to have to stand and fight.

He's testing my tactics, the redhead realized, though it wasn't a hard conclusion to come to. And he's making it so I have to come up with them on the fly and see how quickly I can do it.

This time, as they passed under the Valens Aqueduct, Kanda didn't even say anything, simply crossed his arms expectantly and stared at Lavi through scrutinizing, dark eyes.

Lavi licked his lip in thought, surveying his surroundings.

Time to really show off and impress.

"There's a lot of options on how you could handle a fight here, depending on where the enemy was positioned or coming from," he hummed.

"If they were coming from the northeast side, over there, ideally you'd want to be positioned on the aqueduct itself, since the buildings are so much further away, and have long-range weapons on-hand, because the enemy would have to cover all of that open ground with nothing to hide behind. No matter if they were coming off the ground or the rooftops, they'd be easy targets. If the enemy was able to return fire, you could always hide behind either one of the arches or even crouch down to where you can't be easily seen. The enemy would also have to climb up to reach you with close-range weapons, which would be difficult, since the surface is both mostly smooth with few ledges to climb, and it's vertical. In fact, you could line up a small army in each of the arches, and pick off enemies easily from there without being seen too quickly. Same with if the enemy was coming from the southeast, you could hide in the middle archways or on top, pop out from behind one of them, and take the enemy out, then duck back into cover, although that provides some risk of the enemy has guns or other weapons too, because they can wait for someone to pop their head out and shoot them when they do. The other benefit is that if they have short-range weapons and get close, you can either drop something on them or drop down yourself and attack."

"Now, if the enemy were the ones on the aqueduct, and instead you were the one needing to reach them, there are two critical points to do that. First is the rooftop, up there," he pointed. "Where that zip-line is, which goes right over it. However, if the enemy has long-range weapons, you're likely to get shot trying to reach it, before you ever could. You can't just position gunmen on the roof to cover you though, because, like I said, they're easy targets. Where you'd actually want to position them, or rather, position some as well as those on the roof is there-" he directed to an outdoor wall with a small doorway arch and windows with metal bars through them. "Ideally, the windows are the best place, because you can sneak a barrel, arrow, or bolt through, but the chances of being hit by a bullet or projectile yourself are low, and have them take out the enemies on the aqueduct while they're aiming for those who are zip-lining across or those on the roof. They could also probably poke their head over the wall there, if there's a way to climb up and see over it, and duck back down after every shot, or use that tree there to climb up and hide behind while they shoot. At the same time, it would be wise to have other people sneak around to the far side there and take them from the other side of the aqueduct if possible."

He walked underneath the arches, going to the other side.

"Now, the south side of the Aqueduct, completely different story. The middle section is to be avoided at all costs in that case, unless your enemies are purely short-range and you have long-range weapons, because it's right at the same level as the rooftops and much closer, meaning there's nowhere to hide or run to if you're getting shot at or projectiles going your way. You want to either be at the very top, or at the legs of the structure. In either case, you at least have somewhere to go to take cover. If you're positioned at the top of the archway, enemies can try to reach it by leaping from the rooftops and climbing, there-" he pointed. "...and there, so it would probably be a good idea to have some sort of trap set, like an explosive for instance, or have someone in hiding that you haven't revealed just above those points to take out anyone who manages to get across and surprise them. Now if your enemies were on the ground, coming from that direction, the only place to hide is around the corner of that building, but what you'd really have to watch out for is them going around in that direction and popping out there, where they could circle around behind through the legs of the archway to the north side, or, if you're on the top of it, they could come from the far side of the aqueduct, which would be bad, so traps would be a good idea there."

He had been watching his surroundings and directing more than looking at Kanda, entirely focused on what he was talking about, and finally fixed his gaze back on Kanda.

"Of course, if you're the one on the ground instead, then that's what I would do, is circle around while others kept them distracted. If the enemy was on the ground, then going around the legs and coming up behind the enemy would be best. If they're on the top of the aqueduct however, you would want to either climb up, or go to the far side and run across to confront them, and cut off their escape. After all, it's a long ways down. Then the others that had been providing distraction could use the rooftops to leap across to there, and reach the top easily without worrying so much about being shot, or throwing their own weapons such as bombs. However, running across the top to fight is also time-dependent. If you did it later in the evening, you would have the disadvantage, because of the sun in your eyes in the west. Likewise, if it was done early in the morning, you would have the advantage with the sun behind you and blinding them instead, which are factors that would need to be taken into account. Same with mid-day, they would have the advantage if they were above, because you would have to look up, while they're looking down, so they could easily see and aim at you while you're blinded by the sun, or vica versa. Not taking that into account could prove deadly for either side, if they don't know how to use it to their advantage, or make sure it can't be used against them."

He nodded to the nearest end of the aqueduct.

"The very southeast corner, however, would be the hardest point to defend from, and the best place to attack from, because there are so many different streets facing it and a lot more obstacles. You could sneak close and climb up from around the corner of that building there, or that wall where I said to hide and shoot from the windows. The rooftop up there has a place to take cover, so it's not quite so open, and has just enough distance that it would be hard to make a clear shot for long-range, just long enough to get them to fire a shot, have to reload, and have time to run to the aqueduct itself, or take cover if you are hit but it isn't immediately lethal. There's also the tops of those trees obstructing the view from above, there, and the staggered edges of the aqueduct structure where its been broken provides close-range cover to sneak around the bottom of it. or climb up if the enemies are on the upper levels of the structure. If you were to position a gunman there to defend it, they can be picked off easily from almost all angles except right where that arch stands, because of how many hiding places there are near it and it's proximity to the rooftops in three different directions. That makes it it's primary weak point. However, if you know that and the enemy doesn't, you can leave it alone without much defense if you're the one on the aqueduct, and if you're the enemy on the ground and realize it, it makes for the perfect infiltration point to get onto the structure yourself and take them out."

Kanda's men were not lying about the rabbit being a pretty good strategist - and using ´pretty good´ was being humble with words.

He was genuinely impressed - the bookman nuisance could actually come in handy. He briefly thought about the ineptitude of his own squad, allowing an ordinary, dirty thug to stroll into the den as if he owned the place! He could actually use the rabbit to instruct his men to take better places at watching the den.

Despite his inner state of pleasant surprise, Kanda didn't let it show on his face, and Lavi wasn't really terribly sure how much of his explanations were what Kanda wanted to hear or not, but he gave them, and at the very least, Kanda didn't appear annoyed by it or anything. Which, he figured, meant he was in good territory so far with the man.

They made their way through the city, stopping at various places where Kanda waited for Lavi's comments. The bookman had no hard time of it, this being one of the things he was good at most, and simply kept playing his part. They spent the whole day doing this, but Kanda didn't mind and Lavi seemed like he was in his element. Maybe even enjoying himself a bit too much.

The sun sailed across the sky, spreading the shadows across the city until it was completely covered by darkness. He led Lavi away from the lights, shunning the peple more and more as the time progressed. Finally he found the place.

Atmeyandi - Hippodrom of Constantinople.

The place was empty and the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of the crickets and the distant voices of singing gypsies the wind carried across the city.

Kanda turned around and waited.

"Hoping to find something here?" Lavi teased mildly, noting that they were back where Apollo had initially attacked he and Allen.

"Actually yes, but let me hear your strategy first," Kanda said calmly, walking over to the middle of the hippodrome, his eyes straying over the darkened spot on the ground that could very easily be the place where Allen bled after he used the Apple.

He stopped by the obelisk, right on the spot where the moon's light reached the ground. He raised his arms, turning around as he inspected the forsaken place.

Kanda relaxed, breathing the air of the cool night and turning his face towards the moon.

"I'm listening."

"The high ground," he nodded to the steps. "That's the main advantage, assuming the primary weapons are close-range ones. Easier to push back an enemy from above, without getting pushed back yourself, while they have to worry about climbing at the same time as fighting. With projectiles, though, the prime place would be near the obelisk or the trees, where one could hide or take cover, or through that center passage in the stairs. But that's assuming the enemy would be in the Hippodrome. If they were outside of it though, the best place is at the top, or over in that passage, with long-range weapons. The pillars can be used for cover while returning fire to an enemy on the street or the rooftops. If an enemy were to come through that passage there as well, you could drop down on them from above in ambush, or if they were going the opposite way, from around those corners," he directed with a wave of his hand.

Unfortunately for Lavi, Kanda was not listening anymore despite his words.

The man watched him with a straight, deadly calm look. That is, until Lavi turned around as he gestured. Kanda drew his sword slowly, letting the blade's whisper alert the bookman that the talking is over. Everything around them sunk into silence as if the land itself was looking forward to see what would happen next.

Kanda let the sword rest near his side, its tip almost touching the ground.

"A strategist indeed."

Lavi smiled wryly, wondering if he should be legitimately worried or not. If he was having enough time to worry about it, maybe the answer was no. Or maybe he was overthinking, like he usually did, and the answer was actually yes.

Ah, but whatever.

"Didn't you tell both me and Allen you weren't going to kill me?" Outwardly, he seemed entirely relaxed, maybe even stupidly so, but he was in fact quite ready to haul ass if it turned out he needed to.

Kanda smirked, but not in the usual nasty way he seemed to fancy.

"Indeed," he said, raising his sword so the tip was now pointing at the redhead. "He trusts you, but he tends to trust many people. You proved yourself to be a good strategist," he knew ´good´ was not the word to describe the bookman's planning abilities, but he was Kanda - of course he was not going praise a man out loud. "-but how good are you when it comes to actual fight?" He charged, not waiting for the man take out his weapon and going at his left side. "En garde!"