A/N Here you go, another chapter so enjoy! Remember R&R Also I probably should have said this earlier ( I will go back to the first chapter and put it in later) but this story's time frame is after Lulabell's attack. In this story Allen is still under suspicion of being the 14th (Link will appear later) but the Order has not made its move to the Asian branch yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray Man or its characters. It all belongs to Hoshino Katsura ( so lucky)

Redemption

Then how can you live

I still have a heart

Really? No matter how corrupted it is?

Yes. I happen to embrace my corruption.

You embrace it because I am your corruption

"Lavi pay attention" Bookman fussed smacking the young teen across the back of the head.

"Ouch jiiji," Lavi felt his eyes beginning to water. He looked back down at the book trying to pay attention to it and take in what he read but to little avail. His mind kept wondering back to Shante. It had been almost a month since she joined the Order and since day one he felt himself drawn to her. However, he had yet been able to tell if to was because he wished for her friendship or something more. But he did notice the way he took great care to try to make conversations with her and how he had taken in every visible feature of her, including the two intricate tattoos on her back and the thin diamond ring she delicately played with occasionally.

He pondered if she had been married or engaged, but decided that she was too young. 'But then again you never know' he thought silently turning the pages hoping to find something that would draw his thoughts away. He sort of scared himself with his sudden preoccupation with the girl and tried to convince himself that he just wanted to figure her out more; he found her intriguing, as if something else lay hidden beneath the clean, beautiful surface of her outer appearance.

--

Shante' grimaced as she was greeted by the morning sun, playing on her face, blinding her eyes. Rolling over and pulling the covers over her head, a grunt escaped her mouth before she drifted back into slumber. She was a night owl, basking in the vastness and comfort of night; prone to late nights and even later mornings, Shante found the night to be the most welcoming time of the day.

The sudden and rapid knocking on her door yanked the girl from her sleep. A long string of curses escaped her mouth she forced herself out of bed, tired feet dragging themselves to the door.

A rather gleeful and bright face belonging to Lenalee greeted her at the door.

"Good morning Shante, sorry to wake you," the Asian girl started, "but nii-san wants you in his office as soon as possible."

Too tired to speak too much, the other nodded her head and muttered "Okay," before yawning and turning to shut the door.

C'mon time to wake up, she told herself before grabbing her things to take a shower. Close to a month had passed since she arrived and one would think she would have grown accustomed to the early mornings at the Black Order; Lenalee put every effort into making sure the new exorcist became well acquainted with things and people at the Order, which including waking up about 8:00 almost everyday to eat breakfast with everyone else.

The warm water poured over her, droplets gliding down her skin in crooked lines till they reached the soles of her feet. The shower was refreshing and equally calming. Last night had unnerved the young woman. Her reoccurring nightmares of that night had kept her tossing and turning throughout the night. That was the one thing about the night that she hated: the dreams that it brought along with it.

"Christopher! Christopher!"

Each time she opened her mouth, the girl feel the growing dryness and weakening of her throat. Each shout grew quieter and she felt herself growing light headed, but she pushed forward, feet crushing the snow beneath her.

She tightly wrapped her arms around herself to protect her body from the bitter wind that swept across her. In her rush to find her love she had abandoned all thoughts of keeping herself warm and safe, despite having been locked in a closet for 20 minutes..

"Where the hell are you?" she muttered to no one. As time went on she could feel the worry and fear in her grow more. Christopher wasn't use to this side of town, he had been brought up in the outskirts of the city, by the woods. In his rage at what she had told him, he had stormed out of her house, off to confront a man she knew to be dangerous, with no morals or reservations. She now found herself blaming herself if anything should happen to him.

"If I just would have kept my mouth-,"

Shante stopped in her tracks, clutching her chest as she became overwhelmed at the sight in front of her. There he was, Christopher, a few yards in front of her, turning away from the man that he had sought after. The fact that he was walking away, unharmed, relieved her and a smile spread across her face as she ran to him.

"Christopher you idiot!," she yelled with outstretched arms. Christopher turned, startled by the sudden sound of her voice. With a twist of his body he was facing her, confusion written on his face.

"Shante what are you doing here? I told you to stay back," he yelled as she approached, each movement of her feet bringing her closer.

"I was worried," tears fell from her eyes, out of joy, anger, or frustration she could not tell.

Maybe her tears had been a foreshadowing of what was about to happen next. In what seemed like an instance, the forgotten man had closed the gap between him and the young man. A flicker of silver shinned as the man raised his hand and brought it down swiftly, plunging the dagger into his back. A twisted smile spread across his face while Christopher normal bright expression turned into one of utter shock and terror……….

"Ahh, glad you could join us Shante," Komui glanced at her before returning to the papers he had been skimming over for the past few minutes.

Shante, hair still wet from the shower, nodded and glanced around the room for an open seat amid the sea of papers that covered the room. Lavi, Allen, Krory and Kanda had also been there, apparently waiting for her to show up. Quietly she took a seat on the sofa next to the red head. Out of them all she managed to get along with him the most.

"Well about time you woke up lazy," Lavi grinned before turning his attention back to the supervisor.

"Well its no coincidence that I've gathered you all here, so lets get to it!" Komui chimed, pumping a fist in the air. "Misssioon Tiiimmmee!!"

Allen slapped a hand to his forehead, while Kanda scowled even more.

"Rather I have two separate missions for you all. Krory and Kanda will be going to Spain. Allen and Lavi, you all will be going to Turkey in search of innocence; furthermore, I will be sending Shante' along with you."

Shante gulped at the sound of her name. This would be her first official mission. She had fought Akuma before, even taken down a few level two, and she felt comfortable with her Innocence, yet for some reason, the thought of taking on a real mission scared her. Most of her time had been spent getting filled in on the recent happenings in the war after Yeegar's death, including the mission to find the Heart and the intense battle that took place in Edo.

Kanda snorted, "Che. Are you sure you should send a rookie on a mission with the likes of those two idiots?" Shante knew she was knew and not as experienced as the others, seeing as how they took on the Noah, a shit load of Level 3s, and even the Earl himself, but she still mentally threw curses at Kanda for him calling her a "rookie."

Lavi grinned crookedly while Allen frowned and glared.

"I guess the mighty Bakanda can do much better," he huffed. Before the other could respond Lavi spoke up.

"Yuu-chan, you should have more faith in us, we'll keep an eye on her," he clasped a hand on her shoulder.

A small smile crept across Komui's face, "There will be little need to she's almost at an 84 synchronization rate."

Shante shuttered as she remembered the ghost like woman serpent touching her.

The other exorcists stared at her in astonishment. Krory twirled a piece of his short hair, "That's incredibly high for such a new exorcist."

Shante smiled shyly, "I didn't think it was that great though. Plus Hevlaska said it would probably take me some time before my percent increase since it went up so high."

"Besides that, you three will be deporting tonight," Komui cut the conversation short. "You'll be traveling to Istanbul first, and then from there you will take a two day train ride to the area of Izmir. Located there is the ancient city of Ephesus, where it is believed innocence is located due to the strange phenomenon occurring. The entire city has been completely restored to its original appearance."

"That's it?" Allen asked.

"No, there's more. It is also floating close to 200ft off the ground and every Finder that we've sent there has disappeared not too long after. The reason why you three are going is because your Innocence will allow you to reach the city with no problem," he finished before dismissing the three, his mind drifting back to the meeting with Hevlaska.

"Komui," the living Innocence called.

"So what about the girl?" he inquired.

Hevlaska sighed, "This girl... I've never seen such a high synchronization this early. She won't further for a while most likely, but still…Her and her innocence are almost one, but it seems as if something is blocking them."

Komui nodded in understanding.

"Also… there's something else"

"What"

"This girl, Shante Bonner, she's special. There's something about, something in her that will make her great. We need her on our side, she's a valuable asset to the Order. It's possible for this young woman to make… or break everything we've worked for."