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

Another week passed and Allen thankfully cooled down. Kanda and Lavi spent hours upon hours studying various maps of the city, planning missions and changing the schedule of patrols while Allen kept himself busy eavesdropping on their meetings.

They agreed on keeping a watch over Faulklin after Allen's nagging and found another smith to work with.

Kanda was busy all the time, whether it was planning, leading his men or distributing missions which earned him a scolding or two from the white-haired man. Of course, he only brushed it off every time, saying that he's fine, but many things betrayed the exact opposite. Allen was worried - the dark circles under his partner's eyes grew larger and the shadow in his eyes darker but the man would not listen when he was told to rest.

Everything seemed to calm down for a while and Allen finally decided that it was time for him to go back in the game.

"I'm going with you!" he announced as he fastened the belt with throwing daggers around his hip. Kanda and Lavi threw him a questioning gaze.

"You're not going-" Kanda started, but the white-haired man stopped him with an unpleasant frown.

"I have been sitting on my ass and dying of boredom for almost a month. You cannot hold me here anymore. I'm fine and I'm ready to help."

"You know he really isn't going to stay here even if you try to force the issue," Lavi pointed out gently, eye flicking between both Kanda and Allen.

Actually it was a miracle that the white-haired male had stayed put for another week.

A miracle and no short amount of silver-tongued placations and harsher threats to really tie him down somewhere.

"Something easy might be better in the long-run, just to steady the nerves from becoming too stir-crazy." Mental health was just as important as physical after all, and Allen's had been tilting somewhat precariously with the recent stress. "It's not as if he'll be on his own, so I see no reason why not. We'll just have to be vigilant."

Kanda sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I wanted to storm the warehouse in arsenal district anyway," he said, shaking his head in defeat. He looked at Lavi, expecting him to answer that.

"A supply raid?" Lavi guessed. "Or something else?"

"I heard some rumors about some weapon distribution. We just need to send a clear message that we took over the house."

Lavi nodded in understanding.

"Sounds straight-forward enough." And hopefully something that wouldn't be too strenuous. Take out a few guards around the warehouse and send one or two of them crawling back to their masters with their tails between their legs to deliver the message.

Allen gave them an overly sweet smile and marched outside without further comment. Kanda held his gaze on the door for a short while before he tiredly rubbed his face. It was a while since he had a proper day off and he was finally feeling like his age was slowly catching up with him.

"Ready to go?" he asked, taking his sword from the corner.

"Yeah," Lavi nodded, hoping that no complications would arise.

Allen's health couldn't afford further set-backs and, though Lavi would admit he was just as good at hiding it as anyone could realistically be, Kanda seemed somewhat worn down by everything that had been going on lately. It would be best for all of them if this stayed easy and straight-forward, but for one reason or another, he wasn't going to bet on things staying that simple.

"Lead the way," he nodded with a smile.

The Arsenal district was too empty for Kanda's liking, but he remained silently brooding. He didn't know whether he was being paranoid or if it was because he felt so tired but he had the feeling that something was just not right.

There were no guards on the roofs, nor on the streets and everything was drowning in silence. Kanda gestured to his men to split up and headed straight to the warehouse, followed by Allen and Lavi.

Kanda wasn't the only one. Lavi was having second thoughts about this supposed straight-forward, easy mission, the lifelessness of the streets putting up little red flags in his mind.

Perhaps it was nothing. There could be any number of reasons why people weren't in this area, but he had been taught throughout his life to be cautious. A little paranoid, even. Small doses of it were healthy, just so long as a person didn't let it control them and get in the way of reasonable thought. He didn't like the vibe that he was getting from the lack of activity though. It was the same as quiet in the forest, when even the birds ceased their songs in the presence of an unseen trap.

He could sense the tension in both Kanda and Allen that they were feeling edgy because of it as well.

"Perhaps we should reconsider our plans," he suggested, not so idly as his voice made him sound, his eye watching their surroundings carefully, even the shadows of the rooftops cast on the ground for a potential enemy that might hope to surprise them from above. "I don't like the feel of this."

Kanda gripped the handle of his sword stiffly and nodded. They stopped when Allen raised is hand and shushed them. He turned his head to various direction, listening to the silence of the city when a distant yell echoed from far ahead.

"We got company," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the yell. "Better draw your-" He didn't manage to finish his sentence as a body of an assassin suddenly fell from the roof right in front of him.

"Welcome, welcome!"

That voice made Allen's heart race. "You!" he spat out angrily, dashing forward and onto the roof where Apollo stood, mocking them.

"Idiot!" Kanda yelled after him.

Lavi likewise tsk'ed under his breath as he drew his weapon to follow, sure that his words wouldn't hold Allen back from going after the man but offering them up anyway in the vain hope he might listen. "Allen, stop! Don't chase him on his terms!"

"Fuck!" Kanda cursed and drew his sword. Of course it was a trap! And they strolled right into it.

There were surrounded by thugs and mercenaries, all of them Apollo's recruits, no doubt. Kanda didn't hesitate to drive his sword through the closest one and proceeded to cut them all down as they ran at him. "We need to deal with this quickly!" he yelled at Lavi.

There was a sound of clashing swords from the roof and Kanda didn't have to look to know that Allen engaged his own fight. What bothered him more was the fact that they steadily moved further away while he and Lavi were stuck in the alley.

Lavi nodded his agreement, brandishing his blade. He waited for one of the mercenaries to rush him, two coming at once, and ducked between them at the last second with a segment-severing snap of his spear that neither expected and whirled around, striking one under the ribs with the blunt end of his weapon, and dodging a swing from the second, his spear-tip slashing them across the face and sending them staggering.

"How about an eye-full of smoke?" he tossed. He knew that smoke-bombs were pretty standard equipment for the Assassins, he just wasn't sure whether or not Kanda had any on him.

Kanda growled in anger as he mercilessly slashed a man in half. The downright furious look on his face made a few men reconsider their advances. He whipped around to look at Lavi but nodded, reaching into the pouch on his hip producing a smoke bomb taking a step towards the redhead.

"Be ready to get out as quickly as possible," he said as he sheathed his sword and slammed the bomb on the ground, instantly hiding them in the smoke. "The roof," he whispered to Lavi and dodged to the side to avoid a confused thug whom he used to jump on the nearby crates and then up on the roof. "Quickly!" he yelled as he kneeled on the edge and just as he sighted a mop of red hair emerge from the smoke, Kanda reached into another pouch and took out two more bombs.

Lavi nodded and wasn't far behind, glad he'd had the forethought to secure the hook-blade Allen had gifted him with before they'd left. He was physically capable, and he'd definitely gotten a bit more practice with the rooftop acrobatics since coming here, but he wasn't nearly so experienced with it as the older man was.

He heaved himself up just as Kanda was drawing two more bombs from his pouch, the redhead glancing back as they exploded upon impact with the street and sent the enemies flying, a few losing limbs and others ending up with bloody craters blown through their torsos. It wasn't a pretty sight, but it was one that Lavi wasn't entirely unfamiliar with either and he didn't let it affect him or slow him down as he turned to follow Kanda after Allen and Apollo.

The swordsman jumped from roof to roof as if the Devil himself was on his heels. He could see Allen far ahead - too far ahead - and he knew that wherever Apollo was leading him, was not a good place to end up in. There was a pricking in the back of his neck and Kanda absolutely hated that feeling.

His heart left out a beat when he saw the two men jump down and duck into the warehouse.

Lavi was close, almost matching pace, though Kanda managed to stay just ahead of him the entire way, and he couldn't help but get a bad feeling as well.

He leapt down just behind Kanda, losing another comparable pace, and his mind was sending up all kinds of warnings that he knew not to ignore yet forced himself forward anyway, up until they reached the warehouse where he faltered as his eye caught the sprinklings of black residue all across the floor in a thin layer.

His eye traveled further, almost a full circle around the building, and he noted the barrels and crates, many open or knocked over, strewing black powder all around. Those that weren't open and spilled were stacked all against the far walls, ready to lend even greater burst after the first explosions would start. All of it he took in within only a split second, but it was enough time to make his stomach do several flips in dreaded realization.

The place was a literal powder keg just waiting to be lit, and all it would take would be the faintest ember to set them all ablaze in an instant.

And he knew that, given both how volatile and expensive gunpowder was, not even the sloppiest soldiers or shippers would leave such a mess of it everywhere. This was far too deliberate.

"Jesus Christ almighty! Allen, Yuu, stop! Stop!" he shouted in alarm. "We need to get the Hell out of here! This entire building is set up to blow sky high!"

Kanda spun around to look at Lavi with widened eyes and then scanned the room.

"Get back!" he growled when he saw three of his remaining assassins who were lucky to survive stagger through the door. "GET OUT!"

He turned around to see where Allen was just in time to watch his back hit the floor as Apollo kicked him from the ledge where they were fighting. The older man grinned at them in malice as he ran to the window where a man was already waiting for him, handing him a lit torch.

Time literally stopped for Kanda as he watched the man give him a mock salute and perch himself on the windowsill.

"Arrivederci!" Apollo yelled and dropped the torch.

Even from a distance, Lavi could hear the sizzle of gunpowder as the torch hit it, seeing the traveling spark that traced a trail of it towards all of the powder lining the floor and the kegs beyond that.

He cursed and ran for Allen and Kanda, not really having the luxury of time to weigh all of his options and their potential consequences. If they grabbed Allen and sprinted hard, they might still make it out alive. Not necessarily unmarred, but alive, and hopefully without taking on too much damage.

Kanda, however, had a different plan.

Through all the sudden surge of adrenalin, Lavi almost didn't feel the man grab his arm and spin him around to make him stumble and then shove him so hard it sent him flying through the door and onto the ground.

The only explanation Lavi got was the unreadable look on Kanda's face before he pulled his black hood over his head and turned around, throwing himself on top of Allen and cradling his head to his chest.

The next thing that came was a flash of light and a deafening rumble of explosion.

Lavi's eye widened in surprise as his head snapped up from where he'd landed, but by the time he'd fully registered what had happened, it was too late at that point for him to do anything except scramble away from the doorway and the building, curling over himself and tucking his head under his arms to shield it as the whole building went up in flames and shrapnel.

He could feel the heat on his back even from a relatively safe distance and hear charred wood clattering on the street like rainfall, tentatively glancing back up as fire all but engulfed the structure when the explosion passed.

Cursing, he scrambled back to his feet and ran to the doorway, not having very high hopes that he would find much within except a pair of corpses charred black after that.

"Allen! Yuu!"

There was nothing else but the roaring of flames but after a while of straining his ears Lavi heard a faint sound of coughing.

"Lavi," the redhead heard a faint pained cry.

Lavi raised a sleeve to his nose and mouth to keep from choking on the smoke that filled the air and made it hard to see, and quickly made his way to where he heard the voice, dropping down onto a knee next to them.

He knew better than to ask if they were 'okay'. There was no way they were. But he could settle for 'still alive'.

"How bad is it?" he asked instead, hoping as he did so that it wouldn't be so severe that the only thing that could be done for either one of them was a mercy killing.

Allen's answer was a strangled half-sob when he heard Kanda's guttural groan after he gently pushed the older man off him and held him carefully so he wouldn't roll on his back.

"Kanda," Allen shakily whispered when the man started struggling to his feet. They helped him to stand up and lead him outside where the assassins were trying to put the fire out. "Kanda stop!" The white haired man pleaded when his partner stumbled forwards, trying to shake them off. "Lavi, make him stop!"

"Easy, Yuu," Lavi soothed, though he was sure it was in vain.

He wasn't even really sure Kanda could hear them in his current state. He didn't have the full picture on just how bad the man's wounds were yet, not having been able to give them a proper look in the smoke-filled air, but he knew it had to be beyond horrific even without looking at them. He'd seen enough war injuries of all severity to know that much, especially with how out-of-it the man seemed.

"Just try to take it easy. You're not in any condition to be forcing yourself to move. We've got you."

He was trying to think ahead to what he'd need once they reached the safety of the den, hopefully without being confronted by Apollo again, because they were screwed if he decided to come after them now. He still had some other herbs that he'd been using for Faulklin's healing burns that would come in handy now without him having to go out and buy any right away, but he would have to resupply again afterwards.

It took a while, since trying to move Kanda along quickly without jarring his wounds was nearly impossible, but he was admittedly relieved to reach the den where he would be of more use, ducking out from under the arm that he was supporting opposite of Allen carefully.

"Help him go and lie down, I'm going to grab my supplies so I can start treating his wounds," he told the white-haired male, moving quickly to get the things he would need.

Allen helped Kanda to lay prone on his bed with care and knelt next to the man, gently pushing his hair to the side and off his sweaty, soot-covered forehead. He couldn't help but to bite his lip when he saw the charred ends of Kanda's beautiful hair but he still had hope that he would not have to cut off too much.

"Hey," Kanda rasped and blinked tiredly at him. His shaky hand reached out and Allen quickly grabbed it, holding tight. "You... alright?"

"Yeah," Allen sobbed. "You idiot. You sodding idiot!" He cried openly now, pressing Kanda's knuckles against his forehead. "Why are you so careless?"

Kanda sighed with a tired smile on his face and let his hand go limp. "A belt," he rasped, "to bite." Allen scrambled to his feet and undid one of his own belts, folding it but when he was about to give it to Kanda, he suddenly collapsed on the floor and threw up.

The illness was catching up again, he thought when he saw all the blood covering the floor. But he didn't have time for that now.

"Sorry," he croaked as he composed himself and sat next to the bed again, leaning his head against Kanda's. "We're messed up, aren't we?"

Lavi returned soon, bringing with him two other assassins merely to help carry some of the supplies before they were dismissed again. He set a glass of water and poppy seeds near Kanda within easy enough reach.

"Here. These'll help with the pain. Pretty strong sedatives too. They'll knock you right out, given a good half hour or so to digest," he advised, not waiting to see if Kanda would take them and instead turning to his supplies, sorting out the proper amount of various herbs he would need. Kanda stared at Lavi's back but he didn't take the drink. Allen urged him silently but he only received a hard glare from the man. "Allen, do you know how to mix a poultice?"

"It's just mixing stuff up, right?" Allen asked with a raspy voice as he struggled to stand up. Lavi nodded, pressing a stack of herbs into a small bowl made of what looked like granite and a mixing stone.

"Yeah. Just grind these up really well and then mix in cold water, a little bit at a time until you have a paste, but not soupy. Then-" he handed off a stack of frost-green leaves. "Spread it on these and carefully put them on the spots on his back where I've finished cleaning with the paste side down."

Trusting that Allen would be able to handle that much, he tied back his hair and turned to the bucket he'd had brought in, soaking and wringing out a rag with cold water as he started his work.

Of all the injuries he could have had to treat, he hated burns like these the most. It wasn't just that he had to carefully clean the burned skin, but that the clothing itself became imbedded with the flesh from the heat and pressure of the explosion. It made for very delicate, time-consuming work, and it definitely spoke high of Kanda's tolerance for pain that he chose to stay fully conscious through it as he carefully peeled patches of cloth and threads out of the wounds, sometimes having to use small metal tools or a blade to get all of it, and washed the injuries clean with gentle dabs.

When he was sure that they'd done the best they could, he had Allen help Kanda up off the bed just enough that he could wrap his torso with bandages over the leaves and herbal paste.

"I'll need to check them again a little later, but you should be fine given time to heal. Infections will have a real Hell of a time getting into your system too with how much antiseptic and garlic I used in the wrappings, so I wouldn't worry too much about complications once the inflammation goes down in the next few days."

Kanda kept silent during the whole procedure, biting the belt and gripping the side of the bed with his hand. Allen winced every time his partner did but he obediently did what Lavi told him, ignoring his trembling hands.

When it was done, he slumped down onto the floor like he was before. He listened to Kanda's labored breathing, trying to undo the sash and belt on his hip.

"Drink the water," Allen tried again, lying his cheek against a cold spot on the bed. Why was Kanda being so stubborn? At a time like this. "I know you're tired and the pain keeps you awake. You deserve to rest, too." Kanda gave him a tired stare. "Please!"

The resigned sigh was answer enough and if Allen had been less tired and hurting, he would probably do more than just smile and carefully hand him the water.

Cleaning up somewhat, Lavi turned his attention to Allen now, glancing over him appraisingly. He hadn't seen anything glaringly obvious before, but he was hard-pressed to believe Allen had gotten away unscathed, even with Kanda's attempt to shield him.

"What about you, Allen? Any injuries?" Before the other male could form an answer, he added quickly, "And don't lie if you do. I swear to the Gods of every religion that exists, I'll knock you over the head myself to get to them if you lie about not having any."

Allen gave a weak chuckle but shook his head anyway.

"I'm just tired," he said and looked at Kanda again, who looked on the verge of passing out. The older male's breathing quickened for a second and he struggled to say something. "I'm alright," the white-haired man whispered assurance.

"If you say so," Lavi hummed, unconvinced. "You should get some rest too, though. Even if you're not injured, you're bound to suffer from some mental shock, after everything that happened today." He washed his hands clean on a rag before setting it aside. "I can give you something to help you sleep it off."

Allen managed a pathetic scoff. A mental shock? He had so many of them that he is slowly getting used to it. The feeling of guilt, however, was much worse.

"I'm fine, Lavi. How about your injuries? Are you alright?" he asked as he tried to rub the pain in his chest away, only in vain. He didn't even have the strength to move. "I'll stay here. In case... in case something happens..."

"I'm fine," he assured, watching Allen for a moment in calculation as he picked up a few things to move from the room, so as not to clutter the place up. "I sort of got pushed out of the way thanks to Yuu there, so I didn't get much in the way of injuries. Nothing I can't handle myself." Actually, he wasn't even sure he had any, other than maybe a bit of soreness from when he hit the ground.

He left the room for a couple of minutes to put things away before he came back, toting along a glass of water. He briefly glanced at Kanda, but it looked like the opium poppy had done its work in rendering the man unconscious.

He smiled innocently and lightly patted the wall just off to the side of where Allen sat against the bed.

"Hey, 'sprout, move over here a moment, would you? I just need to check something," he directed. "And I need you out of the way for it."

Allen gave another tired sigh and stood up, swaying slightly. His eyes lingered on the bandages around his partner's torso and arm and he internally cringed when he remembered how horrible the burnt flesh looked.

He shuffled where Lavi gestured, blinking at the redhead but not really paying attention since the pain in his chest spiked again.

Lavi nodded his approval and went to bend over near Kanda, glancing to make sure the guy really looked like he was asleep. He straightened up after a moment and took a drink of water, holding it there as he turned and grasped Allen by the chin and pressed him against the wall.

"Mmhmph!"

Allen stumbled backwards when he felt Lavi's lips on his and he froze for a second, not knowing what to do and his sluggish mind didn't really catch up on what was happening. He really started panicking when he felt the bookman's tongue slip into his mouth, along with water and somethig else and he desperately wanted to bite him but the hand on his jaw prevented him from doing so. He started struggling more violently, trying to get it out of his mouth but Lavi wouldn't allow it, and he couldn't draw in breath without choking on the water.

The man only released him when Allen finally swallowed and Lavi was sure it was really where it should be, and thanks to Allen's stubborness, took longer than he would have expected. When the white haired male felt the redhead's hold on him grow weaker he finally pushed him far enough to plant a proper slap on his cheek.

"Bastard! What do you think you're doing? What did you just make me eat?!" Allen raged, but his frown was not really effectively since he could hardly stand on his own.

Lavi only smiled at him shamelessly, rubbing his cheek as he stepped back. Considering what he'd just done, it was a rather light punishment, so he didn't let it bother him.

"Nothing that'll hurt you, just a few poppy seeds," he shrugged, entirely unapologetic, taking a proper drink of water for himself this time, rather than merely one meant to force Allen to swallow. "You'll sleep well tonight though." He reached out and gave the white-haired male's hair an affectionate tousle. "I'd make yourself comfortable before they take effect. No amount of stubbornness is going to allow you to fight those off."

"I didn't ask for this!" It was rare to see Allen run out of words to throw at someone. But that only showed how really pissed off he was. Furious even. And maybe if his hair wasn't all white, he would look like a vicious wraith.

He breathed though his nose, holding himself up against the wall. He was boiling inside. And he was a bit scared. What if something happened?

"You-! You-!" he stuttered, pointing his finger at the amused looking Lavi. He could feel his fingers and tongue going slightly numb.

"Yuu is gonna be just fine," Lavi told him gently, looking serious for a moment. "If there's one thing I know well, it's wounds, and his are bad, but they're not fatal, and I gave him the best treatment I know how to give. He just needs time to rest. I know you're worried, but he's gonna be fine." He wrapped an arm around Allen's shoulders, giving them a light squeeze of reassurance. "Now you have to take care of your own needs, but I know you're too stubborn to even consider them," he smiled slightly again. "So I just sorta helped you along with that."

"Liar!" Allen snarled, but his words were less heated than a while ago, probably because the opium and exhaustion was taking effect. "You're a fucking liar! Don't touch... me... I haven't... forgiven-"

And before he could deliver another hit to the redhead's cheek, he passed out, slumping into Lavi's arms like a sack of potatoes.

Lavi caught him easily before he could have an unceremonious meeting with the floor, maneuvering an arm behind the man's knees to pick him up carefully bridal-style and place him down carefully where the younger male would be able to sleep properly.

" 'wasn't really lying," he hummed under his breath quietly, brushing his hair aside with somewhat of a fond smile. "But you're allowed to think what you wish."

He took the liberty of checking for wounds now that both he and Kanda were unconscious, finding a few minor cuts and burns, but nothing anywhere near as bad as Kanda had had. He treated those and wrapped them before leaving both alone to rest and made his way to the library afterwards, deciding he would stick close for a night or two rather than return to his own place to keep an eye on them and their injuries.

With a soft sigh, he settled down onto some pillows with a book and did some reading up until the point that the events caught up to him as well too much to keep his eyes open and he nestled comfortably into the cushions on the floor to sleep.