A/N: Once more, I don't own DN Angel

Chapter 9- Surprises

Away from the humble, quiet, rural area of Rivers St., the lights twinkled on all around as night fell upon the city. Buildings came to life as people continued their work into the evening. There was one building that remained dark, left alone in shadows. The majority of the population within the city avoided the building, eclipsed in shadows to hide its secrets. Many of the offices inside were left unused, save one. The flickering of various new clips flashed across multiple computer monitors and typing could be heard from behind them. A squeak of a worn leather office chair and a long sigh broke the lingering silence.

"Kouske?"

An older man with brown spiky hair and dark eyes sat behind the desk dressed in a black suit and tie. His eyes were glued the monitors in front of him. He looked up when he heard the voice, seeing a young teenage boy at his side. The dark haired teen bowed his head when the man took notice, looking at him.

"Saehara..." Kouske addressed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "What is it?"

"Dark's been missing for awhile now with no word, you've been trying to find him with no indication of his whereabouts. It's possible that he could've been—"

"I will not stop until I find evidence." Kouske interrupted, looking back at the screens. "There hasn't been a body found. And if there was there was someone would report it, given what he is. So he must be in hiding somewhere. I'm sure of it."

"Well, the rest of us have gone into hiding here since Dark has been missing in action. We haven't been able to leave since then. They're getting restless."

"I know. So am I. But until we find him, we have to be on alert and on lock down."

"Do you think he found it? The artifact?"

Kouske scrolled through the articles, opening several files and various building blueprints. "It has been moved to a secret location and placed under strict surveillance, heavy security. So I'm assuming that he didn't even make it to his destination. Something or someone must've got in his way."

"Do you think that it might be an enemy of ours?"

"It's becoming more and more apparent. Although even they haven't been spotted for quite some time."

Saehara leaned onto the side of his desk, watching Kouske concerned look. "Niwa-san, how many days has it been since you slept?"

Kouske ran his fingers through his dishevelled hair, grabbing a cup of coffee that was sitting beside him and took a sip, quickly choking and sputtering the liquid onto his desk, realizing that it had gone cold and gritty. He wiped his mouth, noticing his stubble was almost to a full-on beard. Saehara looked at him, not even a look of surprise.

"I don't know, I've lost count at this point."

Saehara patted his shoulder. "Come on, I'll take you to your room, Niwa-san." he pushed the keyboard away from his elder, turning off the computer monitors.

The spiky-haired brunette slowly got out of his seat, pushing it out of his way. "I wish I was like you sometimes, Takeshi. You don't have to rest for very long to be back on your feet, unlike us humans."

"The same goes in kind, Niwa-san. I wish that I could sleep to be able to dream like you..."

"True." Kouske chuckled. "You must get bored staying here watching over the sanctum, Saehara. If you ever want to return to your other life for awhile, you know that I would approve of it. I'm sure your friends miss you at school."

"It's been a long time, I doubt anyone would remember me."

"I wouldn't be so sure. You never know."

"And even if I decided to go, you would never leave your office, Niwa-san."

"You might be right about that. Just think it over."

"Fine fine. Come on then."

Daisuke tossed and turned in his bed while he slept, his blankets was twisted around him in a cocoon with his red hair sticking out of one end. He stirred and fell back to sleep multiple times, unable to have a decent night sleep. It had been like this for the last couple of weeks since Daisuke's return to school. Fortunately nothing more was said about what took place with Fukomachi, both sides kept quiet for the time being, except for Fukomachi saying that he apparently injured himself while rough-housing inside the school. Dark remained alert during the night, watching over the child from within while he slept. He was growing concerned, unsure if he was becoming a burden to the child.

~He should be fine.~ Dark reassured himself, watching Daisuke settled down in his sleep for the moment. ~Me being here shouldn't have too much of an effect on him, should it?~

He pondered to himself, remembering the events that had brought him to this point: who he was, being a part of his Clan, going on missions, ending up in his fight after an artifact, getting defeated and then bound to Daisuke in order to save himself. Thinking about it he couldn't deny what he did was in order to save himself, but he needed to get back to his people, even if they thought that he was dead at this point. They would have to be patient for the time being. It wouldn't be easy to explain his current situation, since it was dangerous and forbidden to perform such an act on a human being, especially one such as Dark who didn't have much experience in what he was doing. Sure he had read about binding one's soul to another, but in practice was a completely different thing all together. He was now wondering if he had made a mistake in the bonding, doubting what he had done at the possible cost of Daisuke.

At the same time, Dark was starting to have strong feelings for the child. He enjoyed being around the kid, despite Daisuke's overabundant innocence and selflessness towards others that he himself wasn't used to. Dark experienced a small part of the redheads life that he himself had never experienced before. All he had known for most of his life was the Clan and his home. He would always do missions and return before sunrise, hidden in darkness away from others who might spot him. This was a small taste of freedom that he enjoyed- being in the sun and in anothers company. He was ever grateful for the kid, and becoming protective almost as much as Daisuke's mother. He swore that he would try his best to make sure no harm came to Daisuke.

A small whine stirred Dark from his thoughts, bringing him back to the redhead. Being unable to do anything now after everything was all said and done at this point in the game left him pretty useless unfortunately.

~Daisuke?~

The child opened his eyes slowly, groaning and pushing the sheets off of him. "I feel hot, I can't breathe." The boy curled up on top of his bed, shivering slightly from the cold air of his room.

~Daisuke, you need to stay under the blankets. You might get sick again.~

"I can't," Daisuke panted, pulling at his shirt. "The heat, my back is really itchy tonight."

~Itchy?~ Dark questioned, his worry increasing as he thought to himself. ~No...he couldn't be. That can't happen.~

"Dark...is happening to me? I can't see in the dark."

~Daisuke, you need to get to a mirror. Get up. Hurry.~

"Hhn...it burns. T-Take over..."

~You sure-~

"Please..." his voice was weak and he went silent.

Dark gasped, sitting up now in control of Daisuke's body with a slight shock and quicky composed himself. He wiped his forehead and grunted, feeling the body overheated. ~He wasn't kidding...~ he reached back slowly, his mind reeling as he felt something that shouldn't be there in the darkness of the night. ~...no.~ Dark slipped out of the bed, walking quickly and quietly out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. He felt slightly imbalanced with fatigue and dizziness. He flipped the light switch and pushed Daisuke's stool next to the sink and faced the mirror. He could see Daisuke's familiar face, his own violet eyes staring back at him. He turned to see the child's back, pulling up the shirt and feared the worse.

There underneath the skin of the kid's back were two small lumps that weren't there before just above the shoulder blades. He felt one of the small bumps, feeling the familiar rash that Dark had experienced once before and his heart sank. ~How is this possible? This shouldn't happen to humans, not to him. I don't understand.~ he continued to look in the mirror, his thoughts now filling with his own questions, cursing himself and let the shirt fall over the kids back. ~Well, now I know why this procedure is forbidden. Damnit Dark! How am I supposed to fix this? When I said wings, I didn't mean literally!~

A familiar voice flooded his thoughts, 'Dark?' Daisuke asked, making Dark jump. 'Dark, what's going on? What's wrong?'

Dark was silent, afraid to answer. ~I didn't think. Stupid idiot! How am I going to explain if this gets out? If I wasn't dead now, who knows what the others might do if they knew I did this to a human.~

'Dark?' Daisuke repeated, a worried tone to his voice. 'Please tell me.'

Dark took a deep breath, calming himself as best as he could, ~Daisuke, I want you to do me a favor, okay?~

'Okay...?'

~Don't freak out.~

'What? Okay, but why?'

Dark gulped and turned his back to the mirror, letting the boy have control and wanted to be able to jump out of the Daisuke's body and run for the hills. He knew that at the moment it was impossible, but he wished he could.

Daisuke blinked a few moments, still feeling his skin emanating heat as he looked back. "What's wrong Dar-" he then noticed the bumps covered by his shirt, his eyes growing as wide as saucers as he quickly started to hyperventilate. "W-What are these? D-Dark?" the redhead was increasingly nervous, touching one of them and feeling something move underneath the skin, making his stomach turn, feeling a scream wanting to burst from his chest but did his best to suppress it until the other gave him an answer. "Please tell me, and quickly."

~Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap!~ Dark repeated to himself. ~Daisuke, it's not as bad as it looks. I can do my best to explain.~

"Start. Now. Please." Daisuke said out loud, still staring at the two protrusions, praying that the one he was currently looking at wasn't twitching in response. The itchiness wasn't helping with the situation either, making him want to scratch the area for relief.

~Somehow, I don't know how, you're going through the transformation of my Clan. Don't ask me how because this shouldn't be happening to you. I wasn't aware that this was possible, and I apologize for not knowing. But don't worry, it can be delayed for a period of time until the body is ready to accept the full change. I promise~

"I-I...huh...what?" Daisuke stuttered, his brain taking in bits and pieces of information at the moment, trying to take it all in without bursting into tears from the shock of what was taking place. "Please Dark, make it go away." he pleaded, now curled up on his stool, rocking back and forth slightly.

~I'll try kid. Do your best to stay calm.~ Dark said, trying to keep calm himself. ~I'm going to need your help. Place a hand over your shoulder.~

Daisuke reached out, reluctantly touching one of the lumps. It felt warm and moved under his skin in response, taking a few breaths to try and be level-headed about this. He bit his lip, trying not to freak out and wake his mother. Dark began to chant softly in a language that Daisuke had never heard of in his thoughts. It was almost completely inaudible, nothing seemed to sound coherent to try and understand. At first it seemed that nothing was happening, but suddenly a white light appeared from Daisuke's fingertips. A series of popping sounds and crunching as the two lumps glowing as well and seemed to decrease in size, his back quickly returning to normal. The redhead did his best to keep the sounds out of his thoughts, whining softly. Once Dark had finished speaking, the light faded and Daisuke lifted his shirt quickly. He saw nothing but smooth skin, no remnants of the protrusions at all for the time being. He slid off the stool and onto the cool tile floor, his head resting on his knees as he breathed.

~Heh, at least that worked.~

'Dark...?'

~I know I know...more questions. I get it.~

"Yes...possibly tomorrow." Daisuke slowly got up, now drained and ready to head to bed. 'Need...sleep.'

~Good...~ said to himself. ~Gives me time to figure this out, I hope.~

.o~ End of Chapter 9 ~o.

There you have it, another chapter! Please comment and give me reviews about how you guys think. Criticism is welcomed! Thank you for all the people who take the time and continue reading this story.