*Author sidles in and looks round sheepishly* Err…hi everyone…long time no…anything. DON'T HURT ME! I've had he crappest month of my life, I won't bore you with the details, but typing has been the last thing on my mind, which is why there's been no updates in like…forever. Hope everyone's not given up on me! Exam season approaches yet again, so updates will be slow a little longer, while I revise and attempt to get over this damn writer's block. Got the whole damn story planned but can't get it together. Bollocks.

Chapter Fourteen- The as of yet unititled filler chapter of Doom

Allen stood silently in front of Komui's desk, hands clasped behind his back, staring at a point above the supervisor's head with a bland expression on his face. Jim stood slightly behind and to the right, his face carefully blank, though he was twisting his hands together nervously, apparently not realising he was doing it.

Komui looked up at them, also silently, waiting for somebody to say something. He waited. And waited. And just for shits and giggles he waited some more.

Eventually his patience broke. "Alright, what is it?"

Allen grinned a little. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You're back early, so unless you have some good news, I hope you've got a good story to tell the Grand Generals" Komui told him frankly.

Allen tossed a small vial onto the paper-mountained desk, causing several document-avalanches. "That's the miracle cure everyone's been wetting themselves for. Jim can attest to its effectiveness." AS he spoke Jim ran his hand over his neck and he swallowed convulsively, before noticing what he was doing and lowering his hand quickly.

Komui picked up the bottle, the fanatical light of a scientist appearing in his dark eyes as he studied it, obviously dying to get back to the labs with it.

"We're not sure if it will work out of that container instead of the innocence, but the potential exorcist wouldn't return with us unless his freedom was guaranteed. He has no qualms about joining the Order, but he has no desire to do so as a guinea pig."

Komui's eyes flickered upwards for a moment, looking uncharacteristically grave. "You're playing a dangerous game Allen. They won't take lightly to insubordination if you were found out."

"We aren't giving him up" Jim interjected, arms folded defiantly across his chest.

"Is there something I should know?" the Chinese man asked lightly, returning to his study of the crystal clear water sloshing in the small angular bottle.

Allen turned to Jim as though asking permission, or at least seeing advice before answering, Komui noticed as he watched them out of the corner of his eyes curiously. He remembered what Allen had said before leaving, and hoped he wasn't about to do something stupid. He was already being watched closely by those in Central Administration, and it wouldn't do to start disobeying orders now.

The teen shrugged back at the general, which could have meant anything, but apparently Allen understood even if the supervisor didn't.

Allen turned back to Komui, his usually light-hearted expression cold and hard, in what Komui had come to call Allen's 'Kanda-face', the one that showed he was deadly serious. "Give us your word, swear on Lenalee's life, that you'll do everything in your power to protect him, and Jim will go and fetch him now. But you need to promise that you won't let him be treated as an experiment before we let him anywhere near this place."

Komui wondered briefly if it was a promise he would honestly be able to keep. He might have been the supervisor here, but in the grand scheme of things he was grossly outranked. Still...there was probably something he could do to protect the newest exorcist. He was puzzled though. Sure Allen was a compassionate guy, but what had this guy done to warrant such protection from the youngest general? Well there was only one way to find out. He looked up, glancing between Allen's 'Kanda-face' and Jim's own expression which seemed disproportionately worried. "I promise t do everything in my power to protect him."

Allen studied him for a moment longer before sighing, perhaps in relief, giving Komui a small nod. He then turned to the other exorcist. "You can go and fetch Danny, he's safe for now." He gave Jim an encouraging grin. "Plus you need to introduce everyone to your long-lost brother." And he shoved the boy out of the door.

"Brother?" Komui squeaked. "Allen! Why didn't you tell me sooner! We've not had sibling conformers before!"

"Why do you think I made you promise before I told you?" was the smug reply.

While Jim was gone Allen gave Komui a report of everything he knew about the newest exorcist and his innocence and told him what had happened to Jim in India. When he had finished describing the effects that drinking the water had, and shown the supervisor (who was positively giddy by this point) his healed hand the two brothers had returned.

Danny stood in front of Komui's desk, meeting the supervisor's dark-eyed gaze unflinchingly. The cup sat on top of a stack of papers where Komui had set it after his original perfunctory study. His scientist instincts were desperate to get both the innocence and the accommodator into the labs, but he knew he had to tread carefully. From what Allen had said the boy had had a rough life and would be slow to put his trust in anything new. And he had promised.

"So…" The Chinese man steepled his fingers and looked over the top of his glasses at the brothers. There were marked differences in the two boys. Jim was blonde while his younger brother had dark brown hair. Jim was taller than his brother, though not by much, but his face was more mature, his jaw squarer and coated with well-groomed stubble. Danny's face was marred by a piercing through his left eyebrow and a small nick-like scar on his chin, possibly the result of a knife wound. But their eyes…they were identical deep pools of chocolate brown that at the moment were flashing with the sheer joy of being reunited. "Well, there's lots to do to get Danny settled in, but I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on, so it an wait a while."

Allen knew Komui was making this concession for the brothers, showing that he was going to keep his word and protect Danny from the interest of the Grand Generals. Jim nodded gratefully. Either he knew why Komui was doing this or he was too wrapped up in the reunion with his brother to question the strange actions of the supervisor. "Of course, it's been over ten years since we last saw each other." Danny agreed, a wide grin splitting his face, making his already youthful expression appear younger than his seventeen years. He swung an arm around his brother's shoulders and gave him a rough, manly hug, eyes still shining with happiness, as though he thought he might be having the best dream in the world, one he never wanted to wake up from.

"The room next to yours is empty, Danny can move in there." Komui said, nodding a dismissal to the brothers. Jim immediately grabbed Danny's arm and started to drag him from the office. The younger boy just had enough time to grab the wooden cup from the desk before being yanked from the room.

Once the door had shut Allen too rose to his feet. "Thank you."

Komui nodded in acknowledgement. He might have given his word to Allen that he would protect the brothers, but seeing them together, knowing that they both thought the other was dead all these years, he thought that he would have probably done it anyway. After all, he was the embodiment of sibling affection was he not? "You should probably get some rest while you can. There's been some unusual activity of late and I'm sure it won't be long before something else comes up for you to deal with."

With a sigh of resignation Allen nodded. "You know, it was so much better when the missions were normal. You know, go out, find innocence, fight Akuma, come home…" He ran a hand through his hair with another sigh as his stomach made a complaint. "Looks like sleeping will have to wait."

Lavi pouted, rather ineffectually it had to be said. "How come it only took you a couple of weeks to do something that Yuu and I couldn't do in months?"

"Talent" Allen replied with a roll of his eyes, not looking at the red-head as he shoved another forkful of carrots down his throat, wanting nothing more than to get to bed and sleep for as long as possible before having to go out into the field again. Plus his head was starting to hurt, the Noah not letting him forget it's presence for a moment.

Lavi huffed, not accepting Allen's excuse for a minute.

"Jim got himself shot" Allen finally supplied, the constant fidgeting and inquisitive noises from the bookman apprentice wearing his already tested patience thin. "Danny came to save him."

Remembering the conversation they had had when they had all met up in India, Lavi made a face. "Do you think he did it on purpose?"

Scrubbing his face with his hands Allen shook his head. "I don't know. I'd like to think not, I would hope Jim isn't that stupid… he got shot in the neck… if Danny hadn't come…" He let his head thump onto the table and groaned quietly. "I'm shattered…"

Lavi looked at him critically. Allen didn't look too different than usual…perhaps he was a little paler, the faint lines around his eyes maybe a little deeper, small signs of stress that came from his job…but they'd only made themselves known after what had happened to the ark now that he thought about it. He remembered his previous suspicions and wondered just what was going on in the younger man's head

Allen was looking at him strangely, and he realised he must have been making faces as he thought. One white eyebrow rose questioningly. "Are you alright?"

"Of course!" Lavi replied, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, as the other eyebrow rose to meet its twin, leaving Allen looking both puzzled and unconvinced, but he appeared to be too tired to press further as he nodded with a sigh. "Mmm" he said mildly, returning his head to the table top and closing his eyes.

'If you stopped wasting all your energy trying to ignore me, you wouldn't be having this problem' a snide voice in the back of Allen's mind told him.

'Pretending you don't exist is worth it' Allen commented back rather sharply before blowing out a breath forcefully, forgetting that Lavi was still watching him.

"Are you sure you're alright? You've been acting weird ever since you woke up."

'Shit' was the rather eloquent thought that flashed through the young general's mind and he blinked stupidly at the red head as his tired brain tried to come up with a response. It was failing. Badly. "Uh…" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, I guess I've just had a lot on my mind, I keep spacing out."

Lavi withheld the eye-roll with difficulty. So Allen wasn't going to 'fess up…well there were plenty of other people Lavi could pump for information.

Allen scowled at the ceiling, though it wasn't giving him the satisfaction he wanted. He tried scowling at the Noah via a mirror, but making faces at oneself was bordering on crazy. He gave a hollow, mirthless laugh. He was already crazy- how else would you describe his current situation?

With a huff he turned over, trying to force himself to sleep. It wasn't working. "Well go on then, I know you're dying to ay something." He didn't care that he was speaking out loud. Yep, definitely crazy.

The voice of the Noah chuckled indulgently. 'Maybe if you tried relaxing instead o fighting me at every turn, you wouldn't be having this problem.'

"I've not got a problem" he snorted indignantly. "No, that's a lie, I do…YOU. Just stay away from my thoughts in whatever corner of my mind you occupy and leave me alone."

'It's not that easy, and you know it. I thought we were past all this.'

"Don't even try and pull any of that crap on me, I know what you're up to, I can feel it. It can feel you…" he paused, searching for the appropriate word "expanding" he decided "in my head."

'You make it sound like a bad thing. You'll need that if you hope to defeat the Earl.'

With a shake of his head Allen buried his face in the cool pillow. "It just feels like there's less of me left, and I can't just hand over to you, I have people I want to protect."

The Noah seemed to sigh. 'There's nothing else I can say to offer you comfort. The best way to defeat the Earl is for you to accept your Noah powers. You know as well as I do that the clock is ticking against us.'

Allen's left arm gave a small twitch as if to emphasise that point.

Yeah yeah, it's crap, I'm crap... God I can't wait til Christmas...the stress of the family getting together will be a welcome break from reality