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

Lavi couldn't help but lament using his eye after the fact for as long as he had, but he'd been determined to keep going for as long as he could with it and do his best for Allen. Maybe it was penance, making up for the guilt of all the ways he'd hurt Allen with his choices.

He didn't regret using his eye in such a way, especially not when it came to his childhood friend, it was simply that his head hurt worse than any hangover, eliciting a groan muffled by cloth as he dragged his head up. It made him not want to get up, but he forced himself to, wincing.

Nothing to be done for it now except ride out the ache until it passed. Sensory overload was a royal bitch and a half.

He went to Allen's room, more with the excuse in mind that he was simply out to clean up the supplies he'd left than anything, but he also wanted to see how Allen was faring. It didn't look as though Kanda was around, which was somewhat surprising, but he guessed that the man was probably too anxious about the outcome to sit still. Likely he was busying himself with a mission or something in the meantime.

He took his while to glance over Allen, taking in his features. His skin was still paler than was normal, the pained crease of his brows, his shallow but steady breathing. He idly checked the man's pulse, and was happy to note it wasn't too flighty or irregular. Hopefully that meant he would pull through.

He will, he mused to himself. He's a total stubborn-ass like that. He smirked to himself, before it turned into a grimace as his temple throbbed again mercilessly.

"Me, on the other hand..."

He decided it probably a good idea to go back to bed, and hope that his migraine would be gone or at least lessened by the time he woke back up.

Kanda busied himself with work until he was ready to drop dead. It kept his head clean and, most importantly, made him forget things - like the sight of a beating heart. Too bad it only lasted until he closed his eyes at night.

The days dragged themselves like snails across salt and he hated every goddamned minute of not knowing what the result of the sprout's surgery was. It was a torture. He returned to the den every morning, checked on Allen and passed out onto a pile of pillows in the main hall.

It felt like forever.

Lavi, for his part, tried to keep some distance during all of it, only sneaking by to make sure there were no declines in Allen's health that he might be able to prevent, and typically only when no one else was around to notice.

He caught a few glimpses of Kanda, the man looking outwardly stone-cold and collected, but at the same time, worn. Lavi didn't offer him any words of comfort though, and wasn't sure that Kanda would want them anyway.

Allen at least appeared to be improving, even as though he might have moved a couple of times, despite remaining unconscious. Lavi wasn't entirely sure if it was Allen himself, or if it had been Kanda's doing.

The man's skin appeared less pale however with each passing day, his breathing slightly more steady.

Kanda and most of the other assassins were away again, so he took a chance to check on the white-haired male, idly brushing his knuckles on the younger's cheek. Days ago it had been unpleasantly chill and clammy, but today it bore more warmth, faintly tinged with a more proper pinkish hue instead of ghostly.

He stiffened slightly as the man twitched, pulling his hand away, and waited until Allen settled again, breathing softly in sleep. Lavi's eye wandered to his hand, tilting his head as it caught the sight of string from it.

He curiously pried Allen's fingers loose to glimpse the pendant clenched in hand, recognizing it as one much akin to Allen's own. He guessed that Kanda must have left it there, for one reason or another.

Since there was no need for him to linger, he turned, deciding it probably best he go before Kanda or anyone else returned. He didn't expect Allen's fingers gently close around his own and stop him in his tracks.

"Lavi," he heard a weak, barely audible whisper.

Lavi stiffened slightly and glanced back down at the bed, unsure if the action had been reflexive or conscious and deliberate.

"Hey, Allen... you awake?" He received an affirmative hum and felt the fingers around his hand tighten slightly.

Before he could continue, the door on the room opened and revealed Allen's raven-haired lover. The man didn't seem to notice at first, and when he looked up he paused, looking slightly startled.

"Kanda," Allen sighed, making the swordsman's eye widen in surprise.

Lavi's gaze flicked over to Kanda, offering the man a smile.

"Looks as though he's finally awake," he stated redundantly as he carefully tried to uncurl Allen's fingers from his hand so he could step back. He saw from the corner of his eye as the whitehead tried to reach for him but Allen thankfully gave up once he heard Kanda let out a deep, shaky breath.

It sounded like he had held it in since forever. His shoulders shifted as if someone has lifted a great weight off them and he stepped closer to the bed, not hastily, and dragged his palm down his face.

"Hey," Allen whispered, wincing slightly. "You look like hell."

Kanda laughed, actually laughed, and his face suddenly lost all its wrinkles.

There was no kiss, no dramatic speech of love and those kind of things. All Kanda did was bend over and touch his forehead against Allen's and close his eyes.

"You look worse," Kanda said, a smile still tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Lavi picked a spot against the wall a fair distance away to lean against, letting the two have their moment before speaking up.

"A word of caution, Allen. Try not to move too much if you can help it. If you do, your ribs might have to be realigned, and that's going to hurt. A lot. You're going to have to take it easy for at least three weeks."

Allen nodded, whispering something to Kanda before returning his pendant. He then turned to Lavi, the smile on his face diminishing slightly. He heaved a sigh.

"I can't move anyway," he said, ignoring Kanda's startled ´what?´. "It feels as if I had a horse sitting on my chest."

"No surprise," Lavi said, face carefully blank. "You put some serious wear and tear on that heart o' yours, or I guess to be more accurate, the Apple did. To be honest, its pretty amazing you survived as long as you did, considering there were holes in it."

Allen stared into Kanda's eyes, grinning. "I told you I won't die that easily," he said, making the other man roll his eyes and sink sit on the edge of the bed. He put the pendant back on his neck quickly and hid it under his shirt. "When did you become so sappy?" Allen asked, already losing his voice.

"Shut up, and... yeah, shut up and sleep!" the older man commanded, his ears turning slightly red.

Lavi smirked to himself. Likely Allen really would make a full recovery, if he was already cracking quips.

"Yuu's right," he said, pushing off the wall and turning to waltz off, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You should get some sleep. More rest you get, the faster you'll heal."

"Wait," Allen gasped, wincing at the pain. "Thank you!" he added more quietly, his voice wavering slightly.

Kanda turned to watch the redhead out of the corner of his eye, curious what his answer to this will be.

Lavi paused a moment, glancing over his shoulder and shrugging nonchalance. "It was nothing. Like I already told Yuu, don't mention it." It was somewhat difficult to tell how literal he was being about the very last part, or if it was simply a figure of speech.

Allen's face twisted into a sad look as his head fell back onto the pillow. "Don't go," he pleaded softly.

There was a moment of hesitation, before Lavi offered up a smile of false cheer, not bothering at all to make it appear anything more or less than a cold placation. "Nothing more I can do for you, 'sprout, unless you want me to bring you something to numb the pain. If it's company you want, you already have Yuu. Otherwise I'm done here for now."

The whitehead sighed, closing his eyes. "Bring me something to numb the pain then," he said, swallowing hardly. It was clear that he was pushing himself to the edge again.

Kanda placed his hand over his mouth to shut him up forcefully. He knew Allen wanted to talk to Lavi, but he will be able to do it when he'll be in a better shape.

"Later," he whispered, trying to ignore the man by the door.

Lavi merely nodded, silently excusing himself to fetch it. When he returned, it was with water and a handful of seeds that he set beside the bed.

"It's Opium poppies. Try starting off with three, give it about two hours to fully set in. If that isn't enough, see how much good one more does for you. Just be careful to moderate how much you take. Staggering taking them throughout the day should help keep up the numbing effect better than taking them all at once. Be careful not to overdo it," he advised.

Allen slowly looked from Kanda to the bookman and cocked an eyebrow. Kanda stood up from the bed and walked to the window, casually crossing his arms on his chest. A soft smile was tugging at his mouth and before Lavi could place the opium and walk away, Allen expectantly opened his mouth, waiting for Lavi to feed him the medication.

Well... he was already playing the role of doctor. Might as well not act like this meant anything, even though Lavi was sure that it was deliberate on the other's part. If he let it bother him, though, that'd mean that it mattered, and it shouldn't, so he didn't let it.

He complied without a word, holding the glass and being careful to make sure Allen didn't choke on the water in the meantime. When that was finished, he set it aside. though didn't immediately leave.

"Would that be all you need?"

Just as he asked that, Allen's stomach decided to speak for him. The inhuman growl echoed throughout the room and the halls like thunder. The man's cheeks slightly reddened and Kanda hid his smile behind his hand.

"Actually..." Allen began slowly, trying to contain the laugh that threatened to escape. It really hurt like hell.

Lavi took a moment to glance at Kanda, hesitating long enough that he hoped the other man would take the liberty of doing it, but it became rather apparent that the other had no intention of doing anything but leaving it up to him.

He wasn't entirely sure what sort of game they were playing at - though he had a pretty good idea - but he merely shrugged nonchalance and once again left the room to complete his task and return with food some thirty minutes or so later, setting the tray next to the bed.

"Here. I'll let you two enjoy your meal in peace," he said, figuring that it was a safe enough derailment. "I'm sure both of you would like some privacy together, after what almost happened."

"That's too bad," Kanda started, the horribly fake nonchalant tone cutting Lavi's ears. "-because I have to pick up a few things from my house," he said, casually walking past the redhead, stealing a piece of meat from the plate and throwing it into his mouth. "Keep an eye on him, would you?"

Allen stared at him with an expectant look. "I really can't move too much now..."

Lavi had to resist the urge to sigh aloud, deciding it better just to play it off for now. He was more certain now that there was something going on and he was being woefully left out of the loop... with them trying to forcibly pull him into said loop.

"He's certainly in a trusting mood," Lavi mused once Kanda had gone, helping Allen to sit up before offering him a spoonful of food. "Normally he'd be bitching at me to get out and go somewhere more wanted."

Allen hissed at the pain in his chest but smiled nonetheless.

"Maybe now he has a reason to trust you," he quipped, waiting for Lavi to break his stubborn, uncaring façade. "Thank you," he said again, "for caring." There was a small flame somewhere inside of him, and Allen kept holding on it, hoping that the choice of words with hit the right spot. He hoped that Lavi will not deny it. Not after everything he's done for him.

"Don't mistake my reasons," Lavi stated immediately, having had a hunch that things were going in that direction. "Because that isn't it. I just pride myself on knowin' things no one else does, and it just so happens no one else in this century and probably the one following it knows how to do what I just did." He smiled fakely. "Makes me valuable enough to keep around where I'd otherwise be unwanted is all, which makes my job easier, especially around someone like Kanda. Keepin' secret techniques no one else has is how people and civilizations have survived ahead of their fellows since the dawn o' Man."

Allen breathed deeply in, trying to calm down the sudden unpleasant spike of anger.

"Just stop it, please!" he whispered, closing his eyes. "This is just a big, stupid farce and you're not good at it anymore." He cleared his throat, grimacing at the pain again. "It would hurt me less if what you keep saying was true, but it isn't!"

It cannot be, he added in his mind.

"It doesn't really matter to me if you want to keep believing that, but it doesn't make it true. You heard yourself," Lavi returned, not allowing anything in his tone or expression to waver under Allen's pleas. "The only thing bookmen care about is our records. That's the only significance you or anyone else has to me. And when all is said and done, I'll simply move on to the next job, like none of it ever happened. You of all people should know that already."

Allen's pleading stare didn't waver.

"Leave then," he said calmly. "Your job is done here. You got all the information you need, you had your chance to search through all what the Apple contained. Leave and don't come back."

"I will," Lavi replied with a small shrug. "Once my job here is done, but as of yet, there are still some things I intend to record."

Standing, he set the remainder of the food within easy enough reach that he was sure Allen could handle the rest on his own. If not, Kanda would probably be back soon enough that it wouldn't be a problem.

"I'm interested to see whose hands it'll ultimately fall into in the end. Depending on how things play out from here, history might yet still need a recorder to pass on what happens afterwards." Lavi tossed back a slight wave over his shoulder. "If that'll be all, then I'll be returning to my place. Don't strain yourself in the meantime."

"When exactly have you become such a coward? Have you lied to her as well?" Allen asked, staring out of the window to hide his glistering eyes. Has the woman he met in China - the one Bak fancied as well...? "Never mind," he didn't want to know. Even to think about another person being forced to experience the same deceit made him sick.

Lavi was a pretty good actor, but even he had his limits. And Allen knew he was reaching them. He would not give up, especially not because he remembered the look on Lavi's face before he blacked out.

He watched the man's retreating back in silence.

"Is he still being an idiot?" Kanda asked a while later. He didn't need an answer - the look on Allen's face told the entire story.

"He's lying."

The swordsman scoffed, sitting down on the bed carefully. "He is." Kanda hummed, putting away all the empty plates so he could lay down. "-but who cares? Just forget about him and get better already. I'm tired of doing all the missions on my own."

Allen huffed in amusement and shuffled further on the bed so Kanda could get more comfortable. "You're awfully cuddly all of a sudden," he remarked with a wide grin.

"Tch, don't get used to it," the man warned, propping his head with his palm, resting his elbow above Allen's head.

Allen's next answer was only a hum and Kanda guessed that the entire conversation that took place before he came cost him a lot of power. He was fine with that, at least he couldn't tease him anymore. He knew that he was not tired enough to fall asleep, though, so Kanda started re-telling him everything that happened while he was out. He kept talking and talking until eventually they both fell asleep, more comfortable and at ease than ever before.

Lavi blinked and glanced up at the window of his room as moonlight peaked in. He wasn't sure what it was that had woken him - a sound… a smell… a sensation…? - but he knew better than to ignore whatever instinct was alerting him to some kind of potential danger.

His window was unbroken, and his door still appeared to be locked, so he didn't think he had to worry of an enemy inside. That didn't mean he could relax, however.

Slipping his boots on quickly and standing, he picked up his spear and made towards the window first, glancing out to see if he could spot anything worth worrying about, but the street was empty, bathed in shadow and silver light.

Going to the door, he unlocked and pulled it open, not immediately going out and watching for any signs of an enemy simply waiting to pounce, but still, there was an eerie stillness. He glanced to either side of the street outside from a good foot or two still within the doorway, before stepping out, and immediately whirling to face his spear above in case someone was just waiting to leap down from above.

Yet again, nothing.

Outwardly, he made it look as if he'd relaxed, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Daring to venture a few more steps away from the building, he kept his senses trained, knowing - feeling - the presence of someone else close by, but out of view.

Was it one of the Assassins? Maybe sent as guards or to keep an eye on him for Allen or Kanda, but he didn't think as much, nor did he suspect that it was either of the two themselves, especially not with Allen bedridden and vulnerable.

He could think of one other off the top of his head who might have interest in finding him privately.

"I know you're there," he stated crisply, turning and watching the shadows as he did so for a figure. "Come thinking you could kill me too? Or is there something else you're after?"

"No, no. I would like to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, if at all possible." The voice was one he recognized, keeping his eye trained on Apollo as the man appeared, wearing a smile that he was sure was meant to put him at ease. Or perhaps the man was merely confident enough in his abilities to not need worry.

"So what do you want? If you're here for the Apple, you'll be disappointed to know that I don't have it."

"No, I suspect you don't," Apollo mused, eyeing him carefully. "Though I'm sure you have your own interests in it. You are a Bookman, after all, are you not?"

"Funny," Lavi said, carefully neutral. "Last time we spoke like this, that name didn't seem to mean anything to you."

"Well I've come into some new information since then," Apollo defended. "Your lot are a rather interesting bunch. Pursuers of history... you've been around as long as both the Templars and Assassins, albeit much more quietly."

Lavi only hummed, waiting for the man to get to the point.

"Or, perhaps to be more accurate, pursuers of the remnants that once belonged to the First Civilization. The Apple, for instance."

"Well I'm going to guess that you aren't here for a social visit," Lavi predicted, eyeing the man carefully and keeping a steady grip on his weapon, just in case. "And if you aren't here to kill me, then you must be hoping that I'll help you in some way."

"Very perceptive," Apollo grinned. "If you've thought ahead that far, then you must know what I want to ask."

"If you've heard of us bookmen - and you seem to know enough - then you should already know we don't take sides," Lavi pointed out. He could see the argument of his helping Allen's side itching on the man's face, deciding to speak ahead of him. "It just so happens that the Assassins have the Apple. I simply want to see how events around it play out."

Apollo nodded, but there was calculation in his eyes that the bookman didn't like.

"Then surely you've seen the damage it can do in the wrong hands? The Assassins have no idea how to use it, clearly, when their own are nearly killing themselves with it. Such people shouldn't try to wield that sort of weapon when they can't properly control it."

"And you think you can?" Lavi raised a brow. "First you would have to get your hands on it, and I have no reason to get it for you."

"Oh, but I'm sure you do. Its simply a matter of figuring out that reason. If we were to have the Apple, though, we could change things. Make this world a better place. No more strife, injustice, and wars. There would be peace and cooperation, but in their hands, all they will do is waste its power on making no such progress, as they have already shown."

"Is that the same yarn you fed to Faulklin, as well?" Lavi guessed.

"You imply that I controlled or brainwashed him into doing anything," Apollo said, smiling sweetly. "But he was already one of us at heart. All he needed was a guiding hand."

Once more, Lavi only hummed, scrutinizing.

"Come now, even a hardened bookman must tire of the foolishness of humans and their constant warring." Lavi's eye flicked up in contemplation, and Apollo smiled further, taking that as invitation to continue. "With the Apple, all of that could end, but someone must be willing to take on such responsibility of creating change, and the Assassins are not up to it. The Apple will only continue to bring them misfortune."

Lavi had to admit, he was somewhat more interested in the ideas the older man pitched than he would like to be. He knew it was a manipulation, but it was a tempting one. Were the years that had worn on him really so visible? He'd like to think not, but Apollo was a cunning man, so it only stood to reason he might notice such subtleties.

He licked his lips in thought, carefully weighing his options. He wanted to ask what Apollo intended for Allen and the Assassins if he managed to obtain the Apple, but he didn't want to even so much as hint that it mattered to him, and he didn't think he would receive an honest answer anyway.

"Think carefully, now," Apollo continued, as Lavi remained silent in calculation. "All it would take is to lead the Apple to me, and I can make all of it go away. No more misery and war, anywhere in the world. We humans could reach our full potentially, and we could do it peacefully."

"Tell me more," Lavi prompted, deciding he would at least hear the man out. He could decide what to do afterwards. "So I know exactly what it is I'd be getting into. Then perhaps I'll have a proper answer for you."