Nero: There was much pointless dribble in the last chapter, so now we actually get somewhere in this fic!!
Um, as for character height: Gabriel is about as tall as Allen's shoulder and Allen is eye to mouth compared to Kanda and Lavi. Kanda and Lavi being the taller ones.
P.s. Thank you all for reading. And for some of you, reviewing as well!! Shout out to: Crosseine and 0x0!! Luv ya lots, guys!!
"You!! The mirror!! Who are you!?" Allen babbled.
"Who am I!? Who the hell are you!? You broke into my house!!" Gabriel accused.
"Your house? That's rubbish, no one lives here!!"
"Oh, I'll show you rubbish!!"
Gabriel kicked Allen in the shin. Hard.
"Ouch!! That hurt, you wanker!!" He tried to grab hold of her, but she avoided his grasp.
"Help!! Dad!!" Gabriel screamed, running for the door.
She pushed open the door and ended up in a strange town painted all white. This was defiantly not her house, but what did she care. The was a strange old man that she kicked in the shin. Was she gonna stick around, hell no!! Gabriel bolted toward the tower, the highest point in the town. If she was going to get home then she needed to know where the hell she was first.
Allen was hot on her trail. He didn't know how she got here or if she was a threat to the Order, but letting her wander the Ark was a bad idea either way.
"Hold on!! Wait!!" he shouted after her.
"You wish, pervert!!" she screamed back.
"P-perv-. I'm not a pervert!!"
Allen ran faster to catch up with her and using his mad skills with the Crown Belt, tripped her. Yeah, I know its a low blow, but what ya gonna do.
"Ah, pervert with magic!!" Gabriel screamed, struggling to get Clown Belt off.
"For *huff* the last *pant* time. Ahem, I'm not a pervert," Allen clarified, but doubted the girl was listening.
"Now, care to explain how you got on the Ark?"
"Please. I didn't mean to trip you, but if you got lost here... well it would be very bad."
Gabriel continued to pout like a child.
"At least tell me your name."
"...If you were a gentleman, then you would introduce yourself first," Gabriel snorted.
Allen smiled. Finally they were getting somewhere. He loosened the grip of Clown Belt and allowed Gabriel to stand.
"Allen Walker, at your service." He held out a hand to help Gabriel up.
"Thank you, um, Mr. Walker. I'm Gabriel Valkyrie Marian, pleasure to meet you."
Allen's mouth dropped open with a pop. Marian, just like his master. Upon closer inspection, he saw they had similar eyes as well.
"Um, this might be an awkward question, but do you happen to be related to a man named Cross Marian."
"Hm? Why, do you know my dad?"
Allen's jaw almost literally hit the floor. Master Cross... was a father. The idea he could father children was ridiculous, but to actually have done it. It was impossible. Yet here before him was a girl proclaiming herself as his child.
"D-does he have long red hair? And specs. Does he wear specs?"
"Yes, he does. And green eyes, too. Like mine."
"Lord have mercy," Allen muttered in disbelief.
What was Allen going to do? Take her to HQ? Leave her here? No. That would be dangerous. HQ it is. There wasn't much he could do without Komui's permission. He didn't want to be in anymore trouble than he already was, but this he considered an emergency.
"Alright, you have to come with me."
"What? Why? I swear I don't know how I got here!!" Gabriel said defensively.
"That's the problem and we don't have a solution, but I know someone who might. Now if you'll trust me, then I can ensure your safety. But if you don't..."
"Alright alright," Gabriel surrendered.
She was helpless and whether Allen was a stranger or not, he was her only life line to get out of the Ark.
"But let's make this clear, Mr. Walker. If you double cross me-."
"Call me Allen and I don't plan to double cross you as long as you don't double cross me."
Gabriel nodded and allowed Allen to lead her to the Black Order.
xxx
As they wandered through the Ark, Allen decided to interrogate Gabriel on the sly. He was eager to find out how his old master was doing, but he thought it would be better to get to know Gabriel first.
"So, Ms. Gabriel. Uh, how old are you?" Allen began.
"Call me Gabriel, Allen. I just turned fifteen. You?"
"Seventeen. You don't look fifteen. You, er. Its just, um."
"I know my size is deceiving and with my build, I seem more like an eleven year old. You don't have to be shy. I know what I am, what matters is how I deal with it."
"Ah, wise words for someone so young."
"Heh, you're not much older," she teased playfully.
As they talked Allen found out Gabriel was the only girl among her siblings and that she was the second youngest. Her favorite color is ocean blue and her favorite food is any soup, stew or broth, but she loved stew in particular. Her mother loves cats, but she had always wanted a dog and that she was a writer and artist.
Gabriel learned that Allen loved food and that he had trained with her father. He explained the Ark to her as best he could and what the Black Order was and why they fought with the Millennium Earl.
"So, my dad is an excosist? That is... TOTALLY AWESOME!!" she squealed.
"Huh? I thought you'd be shocked. At least angry that he hid this from you. Not even that?"
"Nope. I understand that he has some skeletons in his closet, but to think he has such powerful enemies and that he actually fought them and won. I see it as amazing!!" Gabriel threw her arms into the air to prove her point.
"Well, you do understand that we're still fighting. And that your father doesn't exactly have permission to take a break."
"I understand my dad ran from the war and is in trouble because he did, but I guess he sees it as a waste of time. Most wars are pointless no matter how you advertise it, born from a simple misunderstanding or ridiculous disagreement."
"I hate this war as much as the next person, but this isn't a war like you know war. If we stop fighting, if we give up, then that's it for the human race. We fight not to gain something, but for survival itself."
"Yeah, you know I like you better when your not serious," Gabriel chuckled.
"Yeah? So do I," Allen smiled. "Ah, here's the door."
"And are you certain its that door?"
"Of course, look it says so."
Allen pointed to a label that said 'home' in very crappy handwriting.
"Gabriel, I welcome you to the Black Order." Allen swung the door open and beckoned for Gabriel to follow.
xxx
The Order's halls were empty and Allen was thankful for that. He knew how overwhelming it could be when you're new here and he didn't want anyone to find out he had been in the Ark. He already had a cover story to explain why Gabriel was here. All was going well until Gabriel, who was walking ahead of Allen, ran smack into the Ice Prince. Kanda Yuu. Oh, Allen could hear funeral bells already.
"K-Kanda, hey. How are you?" Allen tried to divert the samurai's attention from Gabriel.
"Who are you and why are you here, Chibi?" he asked in a superior tone to Gabriel.
"Hm, OH!! Sorry, I'm Gabriel Valkyrie Marian. Pleasure to meet you, Mr.-?"
"Why are you here?" Kanda asked a little more threateningly.
"You know, its rude not to introduce yourself when someone else already did."
"I don't care, boy. Now state your business." Kanda reached for Mugen just to get his point across.
"Boy? Boy!? I'm a girl!!!" she shouted at him.
Allen watched Kanda's eye twitch as Gabriel ranted her anger about being mistaken for a boy. It was especially amusing we she slammed her foot on Kanda's toe. Whether he felt it or not, he didn't show it. She was brave to treat the samurai like that, but she was drawing some unwanted attention. Thankfully she stomped past Kanda after abusing his toe. Allen followed her, throwing Kanda a smirk as he passed.
"Please wait for me, Gabriel," he called fondly after her.
Kanda on the other hand did not look at Gabriel with such fondness.
"Damn, moody women," he mumbled as he limped back to his room.
xxx
"Alright, so we got the story straight, right?" Allen confirmed.
"Yep, you found me wandering the forest. How I found my way here, my dad aka General Cross, sent me here to keep me safe."
"Good. Well, here goes nothing."
"No, Allen. Here goes something," Gabriel smiled.
Allen smiled back. In the few hours they had known each other, he had become very fond of the General's daughter. She was like a sister he never knew he wanted. They pused they double doors open together and stepped into Supervisor Komui's office, which was its usual mess.
"Holy crap!! What happened!?" Gabriel exclaimed.
"Not to worry, its always messy in here. Um, Komui? Are you here?"
Allen was answered by a loud snore coming from behind a mountain of papers. Allen dusted his Supervisor off and tried to wake him like he would wake any other human being and failed completely.
"Well, I guess we'll have to do this the hard way," Allen sighed.
"What's the hard way, if I may ask."
"Just watch and remember carefully." Allen leaned in and whispered in Komui's ear, "Komui, Lenalee is getting married without your permission."
In an instant Komui shot up from his sleeping place and cried, "No, my sweet Lenalee!! How could you do this to your lovng brother!!?"
"Just kidding!!" Allen said in a sing-song voice and smiling.
"Your so mean, Allen Walker. Now, what do you want? I hope you know you interrupted a very pleasant dream. Hm?" It was then that Komui noticed Gabriel giggling on the couch.
"And who is this, Allen?" Komui nudged Allen suggestively.
Gabriel gained controlled her funny bone before introducing herself, so as not to be rude. "Gabriel Valkyrie Marian, sir!!" she saluted smiling. Acting her part perfectly.
"My, what a well behaved young lady and such a cutie, too. Um, excuse me, but did I hear you say Marian was you family name?"
"Yes sir, if you'll allow me to explain," Allen intervened.
After a lengthy explanation, Komui was just as shocked as Allen when he found out that Cross had fathered children. Once more that he'd send his only daughter to the Order to keep her 'safe'. Although it wasn't unheard of, Generals rarely had time to settle with a partner to even consider having children. If the Inspector caught wind of this, it wouldn't be pleasant for Gabriel. She was a rarity the Higher-ups would love to get their dirty mitts on. Cross knew all of this, but Komui trusted Allen so he accepted his story.
"Alright, you can live here, but you can't be lounging around. This isn't a hotel. You can help Jerry, our chef, in the kitchen. And if we can keep you're lineage a secret, that would help me quite a bit."
"I'm completely fine with keeping my lineage a secret, but I would like to see if I'm compatible with Innocence before I take any odd jobs for the Order. I want to help in the war my father abandoned, I want to clear his name if I can."
The room was silent. Allen was mentally screaming at Gabriel that this wasn't part of the plan, but she didn't seem to notice or just didn't care. Komui looked at her with a skeptical eye. Although the Order needed exorcists, would he really recruit a child. Then again, Allen was her age when he came to the order and her father is the Cross Marian.
"We'll see. For now, you rest. The journey here must have been tiring. Allen, if you could set her up and show her around, thank you."
As Allen and Gabriel left, he made a point of glaring at her. Openly showing his displeasure in her sudden decision to "follow her father's footsteps", so to speak.
"You should have asked me first," he said with an icy tone.
"You would have told me not to do it. Besides, its my decision, deal with it," she countered.
Nero: Woohoo, I'm on a roll!! Hope you likey and please review!!