White Demon, Red Scribe, Black Nightmare
A D Gray-Man and Assassin's Creed Revelations Crossover
Another week. Another two bodies with only a buffer of a couple days in between each murder.
Lavi was spending less time around Allen and Kanda during the daytime and more of the night with doing his own investigating, whether it be pouring over information in the library or trying rumors about the city.
He had a general idea of the city's networked layout of informants and who to talk to, but their information was only so good as what they saw or heard themselves. Something that was becoming quite apparent to him was that 'careful' was a rather insufficient word for describing Apollo.
No one seemed to have seen anything. If they had, and they were lying - paid to keep silent, perhaps - then they were good enough to fool his eyes and ears, and that took someone of incredible skill to pull off fooling a Bookman.
None the less, the man had to slip at some point. Someone had to know. It was a matter of time, patience, and connections. The Assassins already had the Byzantines on their side. Now they needed to win allies with some of the more underground sources, something that - even if the man was charismatic enough to gain - Kanda was too busy to bother with between his patrols and Allen.
On the plus side, making himself unwanted and scarce at the den gave Lavi opportunity to investigate freely around the city without having to worry about Allen tailing him around 'just in case' and making himself a very fine target, especially in his condition.
Word travelled quickly, of course, so it was difficult not to hear about another dead Assassin in the city to go and investigate, hoping to catch some glimpse of evidence or a witness. Less than coincidentally, he found Kanda and Allen there about the same time as he arrived, glancing over the blood-stained corpse left for them to find and with no aforementioned murderer in sight, as if to taunt them.
"Apollo again, hm?" Lavi mused as he walked up to meet them, making it a point to keep at least an arm's length of distance between him and Kanda, since the swordsman always bordered on exploding completely at every incident.
Allen made a noise that was something between agreement and whine, his eyes trained on the corpse. It was visible that he was a little bit out of it, frowning at the corpse and clenching his jaw. He looked just as tired as Kanda did, though the other man was better at hiding it.
Kanda went on sending his men to scout the area and ask around if anyone saw anything, even though he knew they wouldn't learn anything new. Allen knelt down and carefully looked at the wounds.
"Something's different," he said, more for himself than the others as he fingered the laceration on the man's neck. "The wounds are just as vicious, but they feel different. As if he was drunk or..." he trailed off.
Kanda watched him with a carefully neutral expression before glancing at Lavi.
Lavi hummed, his eye trailing over the wounds as Allen inspected them.
"They're sloppier than his usual work," the redhead agreed, crossing his arms. "Maybe he had less time to work without witnesses? Or..." He trailed off, playing with a few theories. "Maybe there even was a witness..." he murmured in contemplation.
Allen stood up, biting his lip. "There was a witness," he paused, snapping out of his thoughts and looking at Kanda. "What do they have in common?"
The swordsman turned around, glancing at the corpse. "All except one were sent to keep an eye on that brat of yours or at the area around his house," he said, frowning.
"This one breaks pattern, too," Lavi hummed, placing a hand to his chin in thought. "Weren't most of Apollo's kills during the night and early morning? Could be that..." He paused a moment, glancing at the other two in question. "...he might have gained some allies to help him, unless he's trying to throw us for a loop on purpose. Give us a false bone to chew on for a while."
"Maybe," Kanda hummed, looking around the roofs, "but why so suddenly? It is still the same as before, though - well at least from a certain point when his kills started to get sloppy."
"But why?" Allen interrupted, looking like he was going to say something but decided against it, which made the swordsman frown.
Kanda heaved a sigh. "Maybe that little brat knows more than he's willing to tell us." He caught Lavi's eye for a second and spoke again. "Let's pay him a little visit, shall we?"
Lavi nodded. "I think we should tread carefully though. Last time he broke pattern, Apollo led us into that trap. Best we not repeat the same mistake," he cautioned, briefly glancing toward Allen meaningfully as he fell into step towards where Faulklin was staying.
They made their way to the house mostly in silence.
Allen stubbornly stared ahead, only muttering apologies when he occasionally bumped into someone on the crowded streets and Kanda was skinning every who dared to get too close to him with his eyes.
"Stop worrying," Kanda said, seeing that the whitehead was clenching his fists on his sides while pretending not to have heard his partner. Kanda sighed and glanced behind, making sure Lavi was keeping his pace.
He noticed few of his men on the roofs above and was glad to find that the signals they gave him were only positive.
Allen picked up his pace when they were on the right street and came to an abrupt halt in front of the small house with shabby door where Faulklin lived. He tentatively knocked on the door.
"Hey kiddo, are you there?" he asked, forcing his voice to sound as even and carefree as possible. When there was no answer he dared to open the door and walk into the dark room. "Faulklin? Are you alright?"
The boy glanced sidelong at the door from where he sat on the bed of the small house, single remaining eye briefly surveying the three men before it trailed somewhere off to the side at a wall in an aloof, disinterested manner.
He merely hummed a response at first, gnawing his lower lip, before finally finding his voice, having to ponder his wording for a moment so as not to come across as rude.
" 'something you want?"
"We just wanted to make sure you´re alright," Allen started, putting on his disarming nothing-in-the-world-is-wrong smile that didn´t seem to affect the kid, "so, how are you?" The whitehead asked cheerfully, not wanting to jump straight to the point which made Kanda edgy.
" 'fine," the kid answered, appearing to look at other things in the room that he seemed to decide were more interesting, though he was still making it a point to keep them in his peripheral vision.
"Still as sociable as ever, I see," Lavi hummed amusement, taking up a spot on the wall to lean against.
"How are your wounds?" Allen continued, briefly giving Kanda a look that said ´make yourself comfortable´.
"They're healing," Faulklin shrugged indifferently. He absently traced his fingers over the puckered flesh of the larger scar remaining on his left cheek. "Most of it anyway."
The white haired man smiled, his eyes momentarily flickering towards the two other men in the room. He suppressed the sigh that was threatened to come out of his mouth. Allen really wished the boy would be more talkative.
"Have you, by any chance, noticed anything out of place? Like anyone following you?"
Faulklin shook his head. "Only your guys. 'don't leave much though. Not with the shop closed." Pausing to stifle a yawn, he added, " 'been tired, with my wounds healing, too. Jus' stay here most o' the time."
Kanda sighed - a clear sign that his partner was wasting time - but Allen ignored him.
"Aren't you bored here?" the whitehead piped in, fingering the dagger on his hip.
Faulklin shrugged again noncommittally. "I guess. 's been quiet though." Even as he spoke, his single eye wandered to the dagger at the man's side, drawn by the movement of Allen's hand, and he fidgeted away somewhat with a hint of wariness about him.
Allen almost sighed at the child's skittishness. "I was wondering, maybe you could have a look at my blades? They could use a little maintenance. Could you do that for me?" he asked with a sweet smile, adding a pouty ´please´ afterwards.
Kanda mutely shook his head. What an idiot. Always the child he is...
Faulklin looked thoughtful for a moment, gnawing his lip, then nodded.
"I can look," he answered finally, after many beats of silence. " 'not really a blacksmith's apprentice anymore though, since that man 's no longer around. Dunno how useful I'd be."
"You must have learnt something," the white-haired man winked, straightening up. "I'll leave my blades here and you have a look at them, alright? I'll come by tomorrow or so and then you can tell me what you're going to need to take care of them. I'll bring some tea," he trailed of cheerfully, undoing the belt with his knives and putting it on the table. "Do tell me if you need anything else, maybe I can get it tomorrow."
Faulklin stared after the man for several moments, silently contemplating something, before he simply nodded and instead shifting his focus to the smaller blades.
"Alright."
Allen watched him, curiously, not knowing what to do at first. "Do you...?" He paused. "Never mind." He turned to the other two men but they didn't look very keen on helping. "Faulklin," he spoke silently, watching the boy with an unsure expression. "Do tell us if there is anything out of order." He sighed," be safe."
Faulklin merely hummed acknowledgment, occupying his attention on other things. Lavi remained the silent observer and leaned off the wall when Allen made his exit from the small building.
Even after their having saved the kid and treated his wounds, it seemed they weren't any more trusted than before. Something he couldn't quite place made the back of his neck tingle, the redhead absently reaching a hand back to massage his nape and pausing to glance behind him, looking speculative.
"Well, that was a waste of time," Kanda said suddenly, not really trying to hide his irritation. "If I had asked him-"
"Oh yeah?!" Allen jumped in. "You would have scared him and we still wouldn't be much smarter than we are now!"
"You don't know that!" Kanda retorted, a little bit defensive. "Anyway, we still don't know anything. I should have done it my way," the swordsman grumbled under his breath.
Allen was muttering curses on his own, still absolutely oblivious to Lavi's existence. "You should put more guards around." He continued with a heavy sigh, "we need to keep him safe - that is the least we can do for him after what happened," he added quickly when he saw that Kanda had already his protest on the edge of his tongue.
"Or we could try an alternative," Lavi suggested off-handedly, hoping to keep tempers low. "It's just a guess, but Apollo might be trying to spread us thin. The more guys are sent here and there across town for small things like this, the easier it'll be in the long run for him to pick 'em off, one by one." He shrugged, not appearing to care either way, offered advice not withstanding. "If present strategies aren't working, the obvious route is switch to something else that will."
Allen took a deep, calming breath while Kanda eyed the redhead with interest. He squinted momentarily before a feral grin bloomed on his face.
"How about we give him what he wants?" he started, his eyes moving to his white-haired partner who stared back at him with a frown.
"I'm not sure what you mean," Allen said carefully.
"He's after you and the apple, so you'll go babysit the brat."
"Isn't that a bit risky?" Lavi pointed out, giving it a bit of calculation.
Before Kanda could say anything, Allen interrupted him, looking disturbingly hopeful.
"No," he gasped. "No, that's perfect."
"Shut up," Kanda silenced him sternly, giving him a dark scowl. He knew exactly what the other had in mind and he hated it. Kanda turned back to Lavi, ignoring his suicidal lover. "It's not, because I'm going to be there, too."
"Be that as it may," Lavi hummed, hiding his own displeasure at Allen's sudden shift in attitude. He knew all too well when to be worried about Allen's choice of actions and now was looking increasingly like one of those times. "We're dealing with a tough opponent here. Apollo may be bold, but he's not dumb. We're going to need a more complex strategy than just `throw some bait down and hope he shows`. No offense, but you both play strategy like checkers, and you can't do that with someone who has strategy perfected like a master of chess."
Kanda shrugged. "The master of chess has shaky hands. He's been waiting for a good opportunity for way too long. And I think the fact that we turned the Byzantines on our side slapped his ego and crossed his plans a little bit too roughly."
"I'm not as sure about that as you seem to be," Lavi returned, glancing over his shoulder. "There are a few things I'm not sure of, actually. Something about that kid and his skittishness... I dunno, he bugs me, but I can't place why. Don't you think its a little weird though? That out of everyone Apollo's targeted, he's the only one to survive? Not just once, either. For some reason, I get the feeling it wasn't by accident. Apollo had a reason for it."
"He loves to torture people," Allen said, his frown pointed at the ground. "He takes pleasure in it. Maybe that's why he's scaring him so much."
"Maybe, but I think we should proceed carefully," the redhead cautioned. "It's one thing to take pleasure in that sort of thing for the pure sake of it, but when someone like that has bigger priorities, I doubt its as simple as that. While we're trying to use Faulklin as bait to get Apollo, all along, whether knowing or unknowingly, Apollo might already be using him for that role against us himself." He paused, shrugging nonchalantly. "Don't be reckless about it, which you have a tendency to do. That's all I'm saying."
"He will not be the bait." Allen said, first time after a long time staring Lavi in the eye with a burning determination.
"Stop glaring, he's right," Kanda intervened, flicking Allen's forehead. "Don't you dare to pull some shit without thinking," he warned to which Allen answered with a stuck out tongue and an angry huff.
"I won't, don't worry. Not now when we have the chance to end everything."
"Except you haven't been in the best condition lately," Lavi felt the need to point out. "Even before that Apple messed you up, we had a hard time of taking him on. Don't forget that. The possibility of taking him out has been slim so far, even between the three of us, and all of the den, and with the Byzantines on our side, and if you die and he survives, someone like him doesn't stop just because one thorn is out of his side. You have to look at the big picture, not only the here-and-now." He shrugged, looking perfectly the part of someone who didn't care either way. "I'm not saying don't go through with your plans, I'm just saying be smart about it. You can't afford mistakes at this point, and there have been a lot of them before now."
Allen looked as if he was about to tear the redhead's face off any second. "I'm fine! I can handle myself," he growled and sped up, not trusting himself at that moment. Kanda flinched at the words as if they had physically struck him and clenched his jaw.
Much Lavi's surprise however, he didn't comment on that. Hiss face said it all anyway.
Kanda watched Allen jump on the rooftop, sparing only a single glance back at the two men before dashing away towards the den. When he was out of sight, Kanda's shoulders slumped down.
"So, what's the big plan?" He asked.
Lavi had to resist sighing, mainly because that would hint that he might actually give a damn about the outcome.
"Well, you might not particularly like what I have to suggest," he warned. "But it could mean the difference between one death and several. If we can gain access to one of the other buildings around where Faulklin is staying that has a window, especially one of those grated windows, we could watch while remaining hidden, and wait until Apollo shows up to pick off another guard. Its a tactic we haven't tried yet, so he probably won't even think to expect it, and people change their behaviors when they don't know or suspect they're under watch. We'll use that to our advantage to get the jump on him. Taking him by surprise and unprepared is our best bet towards beating him."
Kanda nodded mutely, resigned. It was evident that the man was worn out and tired but did the best to cover it up.
"I'm going to get more men tonight. Meet me near the new smithy at midnight," he said and turned around to leave too, pausing after two steps. "Oh, and, don't talk to him," he said. "Just shut up. You're making it worse and I have enough things to worry about at this point."
"Just tryin' to help," Lavi shrugged, pushing his own Allen-related frustrations aside. It wouldn't do him any good to dwell on them anyway. "If Allen was someone who could think with his head instead of his reckless emotions, maybe he would realize that, instead of taking everything he doesn't want to hear as a personal offense."
"You can help by planning, so leave him alone."
After they returned to the den, Kanda found Allen in the underground, going through his weapon stash.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" the black-haired man asked when he saw his partner inspecting his broadsword. He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms on his chest.
"It does," Allen answered with a soft smile on his lips. He stood up, holding the long silvery sword in front of him. Kanda could see how much will it took him to still his trembling hands. The white-head slowly lowered the tip on the ground, bowing his head with a heavy sigh.
"It's gonna be better," Kanda said, but his voice sounded less assuring than he wanted it to be.
Allen huffed a dry laugh and sheathed the heavy sword, putting it back on the rack and taking his spare daggers instead. "Yeah, maybe after tomorrow..."
"Just don't do anything stupid, idiot."