I'm sorry, yet another short and boring chapter this week. I've been rushed off my feet all week and haven't had time to do anything! Therefore, for your viewing pleasure, next week, you will get not just one, but TWO chapters. There are only 7 chapters to go...
Chapter twenty four
Last Time:
Lenalee took a deep breath as Lavi raised his fist and knocked, almost politely, on the old man's door. A gruff "enter" answered the knock and Lavi laid his hand on the door handle, preparing to enter. "Ready for this?" he asked the woman at his side.
"As I'll ever be. Let's get this over with" she replied, and Lavi pushed the door open firmly.
0o0o0o0o0
If Bookman was surprised at the sight of his unexpected visitors it did not show on his wizened face. Instead he slowly laid down the pen he had been using and half turned in his chair to face them fully, giving his apprentice a questioning look before focusing on the woman standing at the redhead's side. "Miss Lee, what can I do for you?"
Lenalee shared a glance with Lavi before clearing her throat nervously. "We've come to ask for your help."
Without warning the old man was standing in front of the exorcists. Well, standing in front of Lenalee, since for some strange reason Lavi was flat on his back looking slightly dazed and nursing a Bookman-sized shoe print on his face. "Idiot boy, what have I told you about things like this? I knew your loose ways would land you in trouble!" Bookman snapped at the man still sprawled on the floor. He turned to Lenalee with pitying eyes. "You're wondering how to tell your brother? Well, I can't say I condone what has happened, but I'll make sure the Supervisor doesn't kill him, I'm sure we will both rather have him alive." He shot a look loaded with daggers at Lavi. "And don't think this will get you out of your duties to the clan!"
Lavi and Lenalee were by now thoroughly confused, and the look the exchanged said as much. "Err, Bookman, I don't think…"
"So, when did this happen? No, never mind… it doesn't matter now. When is the baby due?"
"Eh?" Lavi gaped at the old man. "Baby? You think Lenalee and I… baby?" He stood there with his mouth flapping open like a dying fish.
Lenalee shook her hands in front of her rapidly, "No, no, no, no! That's not it at all! You've got this all wrong!" She looked around worriedly, half expecting Komui's sister-dar to have gone off and the mad scientist to be charging into the room at any moment ready to unleash his older brother fury (or his latest robot creation) on any male present. Lucky they were in Bookman's room, since she suspected even her brother would hesitate at bugging the old man's bedroom. "This isn't about me and Lavi, this is about Allen!"
"Walker got you pregnant?" asked Bookman, raising his eyebrow.
There was a stunned silence as Lavi and Lenalee processed this question. Lavi could have sworn a tumbleweed blew past as the silence lengthened.
"Allen's gay" Lenalee said eventually
"It's happened before" Bookman shrugged, pulling a pipe from somewhere on his person and filling it with tobacco before lighting it.
"What, Allen got someone pregnant?" Lenalee asked, wondering at what point this conversation had become so surreal. "No, wait; I don't know why we're talking about this. I'm not having Allen's baby. I'm not having anyone's baby. That's not what we came here to talk about."
"Oh?"
"We know about Allen, being a Noah" Lenalee said, frustrated at the situation and rather embarrassed that Bookman had even suggested she was carrying Lavi's baby.
Bookman said nothing , merely blinking slowly and continuing to puff at his pipe, smoke curling around his head. Eventually he took the pipe out of his mouth and raised his eyebrow questioningly. "And?" he puffed again. "I have known for nearly a year, and nothing has changed within the Order in all that time. I think he will be safe for some time yet."
"No, he won't" Lave said flatly, apparently annoyed that Bookman had not grasped the severity of the problem. "On the last mission he started to transform, and even when we managed to stop it, he didn't completely change back. He won't be able to hide it anymore."
Bookman looked vaguely intrigued. "So he halted the transformation instead of reversing it? Interesting."
Silence fell across the room as Lenalee and Lavi waited for the old man to speak again.
Bookman appeared to have fallen asleep.
"Oi, old man" Lavi suddenly said very loudly next to Bookman's ear. Needless to say, Bookman wasn't really asleep, nor was he too impressed by this, and with speed and strength one would not expect from such a small aged man, he gave Lavi his second flying kick to the face that day.
"Owww…" the redhead complained painfully from where he lay in a crumpled heap against the wall.
Bookman gave him a withering look, muttering "idiot" under his breath before turning to Lenalee. "Now, miss Lee, why is it you brought this to me? Surely your brother should be informed?"
Lenalee shook her head. "We do need to tell my brother since he needs to have the information in order to protect Allen, but I think having you there will help. And the Grand Generals will listen to you."
Bookman considered her for a moment. "I can give my views, but my role in the Dark Order is not one where I can significantly influence the higher echelons."
Lenalee's shoulders slumped visibly. Having Bookman argue Allen's case had been their best hope. Seeing her despondency, Bookman spoke again in careful, thoughtful tones. "I will, however, be able to lend the supervisor my thoughts on this matter, and aid him in preparing Walker's defence."
"Thank you Bookman" the woman said respectfully with a small bow, restraining herself out of politeness when all she really wanted to do was jump up and down in relief.
"Do you think that you'll be able to come up with something?" Lavi asked from his seat on the floor, having not got back to his feet after his last flight. He was sitting with his legs crossed, and with his bandana hanging loosely around his neck, pulled free when Bookman had kicked him, so his hair hung around his face and in his eyes, he had the appearance of an overgrown child.
Bookman didn't even look at him. "Idiot."
Lavi rolled his eye and got to his feet, gingerly prodding his nose to check if it was broken. "Shall we?" he gestured towards the door in a gentlemanly manner, but Lenalee wasn't fooled. Lavi had been checking out her ass all the way back to the Order. She gave him a knowing wink and he flushed a little in sheepish embarrassment at being caught out, and left the room first.
Lenalee followed behind, a small grin on her face. After all, Lavi's ass was pretty nice to look at too.
0o0o0o0o0
They almost fainted then and there when Komui's office door swung open to reveal the supervisor hard at work seated at his desk.
To one side there was a neat pile of mission documents which he would pick up one by one, read thoroughly, make a few comments on the rapidly filling notebook open in front of him, and place the report on the other side of the desk on another, taller pile. Reever was just leaving, arms full of documents that Komui had finished with. The Australian man's face was worn and tired as usual, but it was obvious that he was extremely happy that Komui was actually doing his job, despite the less-than-perfect situation.
The supervisor didn't look up when he came into the office; and only noticed the company when Lenalee cleared her throat. "We're home!"
"Lenalee!" the supervisor leapt to his feet, completely ignoring Bookman and pushing Lavi roughly aside as he rushed forward to embrace his sister. "How was your mission? Did everything go alright? Was anyone hurt? How-" His barrage of questions was cut short as Lenalee unwrapped his arms from around her and pushed him back, putting a distance between them.
"That's actually why we're here…" she said, motioning for the supervisor to sit back down as she took a seat herself on the couch. Lavi sat beside her and Bookman stood along one wall, making it clear that he would only be part of the conversation as and when he pleased.
As though sensing the sudden tension in the room, Komui did as directed, remaining studiously silent as he waited for someone to speak.
Lavi cleared his throat. "The mission went well- nobody was seriously hurt and all the Akuma were destroyed but…" he made a face as though wondering how to proceed. "But we found out something… about Allen." Lavi glanced at Bookman, cursing the old man for not helping out.
"Oh?" said Komui mildly, clasping his hands together on top of the notes he had been making earlier. He might have appeared calm, but his mind was whirling with any number of possibilities.
Lenalee shifted nervously before she spoke, not quite meeting her brother's eyes. "Allen…is a Noah."
Komui blinked. "Sorry…what?" That was certainly not one of the possibilities he had thought of earlier. "I thought you said-"
"She did."
The supervisor's mind stuttered to a halt as he gaped stupidly at the exorcists. "Since when?" he asked incredulously. It was totally ridiculous! After everything Allen had done for the Order, everything he'd been through in the name of the church- he had innocence for crying out loud! It made no sense!
"Birth, apparently" said Bookman from his position at the wall.
Komui looked at him as though seeing him for the first time. "You knew about this?" he frowned.
"I did. Walker told me himself shortly after he woke up."
"That long ago? And you said nothing?"
Bookman gave the supervisor a flat look. "I had no reason to, he was not a risk."
"So why are you telling me now?" asked Komui, confused.
"Something happened on the last mission. He started to transform and even when we got everything back under control, he stayed like that- sort of half transformed, in limbo. And it means that he can't pretend anymore."
"Sometimes I think that boy enjoys causing me trouble" grumbled Komui a little petulantly as he turned over the problems that had fallen to him to sort out. "Where is he now?"
"He's staying in an inn near to where we all met up. Kanda, Jim and Lanel are with him" Lenalee explained.
Komui gave Bookman a sharp look. "And has Lanel got something to do with this?" he asked, thinking back to when the old man had brought the green-haired person to him. "It seems suspicious that he arrived here at the same time as Allen woke up in the Ark."
Bookman gave him a crooked grin. "You don't believe in coincidence?" the grin faded. "You'll have to talk to Walker and Lanel about that, I'll say no more."
Komui pouted childishly at the old man's stubbornness but let it go with a mental note to get the full story at some point. "So, what now?"
"Well obviously he can't come home. Not only is he under orders not to, but it'll be obvious to anyone as soon as they see him that he's not… the same. But neither can he carry on the mission. He can hardly just wander into a finder base like he is now" Lavi summarised.
Komui tapped a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Well, it definitely is a problem. To be honest, I have no idea what to suggest." He fell silent, pulling off his beret and scratching his head. To be honest, he was actually quite keen to get a look at this mysterious transformation himself, and while he was no where near as ruthless as those stationed at Central Administration, he was still a scientist, and sometimes things just needed looking in to. He cackled madly to himself, a wicked gleam in his eyes as he imagined the possibilities.
A sharp smack on his head brought him back to himself. He blinked up at his sister who was holding a clipboard and glaring at him, anger sparking in her violet eyes. "I can't believe you!" she scowled. "You were thinking about experimenting on Allen, weren't you?"
"No-oo" Komui denied, waving his hands in front of him to ward off another attack, though no one was fooled by the dismissal. "Still, if there's anything he can tell us that might help…" he trailed off, before giving a decisive nod. "I'll need to speak to him. I'll sort out something, don't worry."
It was the best they could hope for, and Lavi and Lenalee nodded in acceptance and standing up, intending on heading down to the dining hall before going to bed for some desperately needed rest. Bookman swept out ahead of them without a word. Komui started to connect his golem to the telephone on the desk, pausing only long enough to glance up at the two exorcists. "I'll let you know what we decide, but this might take a while, we need to make sure we cover our tracks well."
0o0o0o0o0
The next day both Lavi and Lenalee were called back to Komui's office. The supervisor looked unusually grim when he looked up at them.
"Allen is coming home" he began and held up a hand to stave off the protests. "He's opening a connection straight to my office and we'll talk in here."
"Is it safe for him to use his powers like that? What if the other side starts to take over again?" asked Lenalee worriedly
"It should be fine" Komui said, trying to sound reassuring. Neither of the exorcists looked reassured, but didn't say anything. "Anyway, I think the plan is once he's been checked over" subjected to my superior scientific knowledge "he'll go back out and carry one trying to reverse the change. Apparently he's made some progress in that department since you two left. While that's going on I'll sort out some fake reports from the finder bases so the higher ups don't catch on."
"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" asked Lavi. "What of they find out?"
"It'll work for a while. Allen should be able to learn to hide the Noah characteristics soon enough." He glanced at the clock. "They'll be back soon, and I'd like Bookman present for this, if you'd fetch him for me Lavi."
As soon as the redhead had left Lenalee looked at her brother. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
Komui sighed and slumped a little. "No, but it's the best plan we've got."
0o0o0o0o0
Knux33- or a combination of all three… though I hate to break it to you- not even I know what's going to happen between this chapter and the last two…
Fallendemise21- I'm sorry! Another actionless chapter! Don't hate me! I'm saving it all for the end! If you like action, you'll love them… *carries on skipping by, dropping hints as she goes*
- Thanks for touching the fuglyness. Ooh, a breakdown..? That would be fun, wouldn't it? *cackles sadistically*
MiniBloodyMurder- Thanks! ;-)
LordMakura- Thank you very much for reviewing!
Babo123- Ah, I needed the luck! I lost a whole day of writing on Sunday, so I didn't sleep all weekend! Plus I went a bit brain dead and ended up writing some of this chapter instead!
How is it I can whack up a couple of thousand words for a chapter of my fic, as well as plan out the rest of the fic (there's going to be 31 chapters in all, how exciting!) and a whole new fic, all in one night, I might add, but I can't write a couple of essays for my degree in a whole weekend?!? Well, not a whole weekend. I'd planned to get the reading done Friday and spend Saturday and Sunday writing the bloody things up, but no-ooo, my grandparents decide to come and visit on Sunday. Of course, the fact they'd driven 120 miles to see me meant I couldn't chuck them out. Dammit.
And my parents decided that joining Facebook was a good idea, so now I have to be careful what I put up there now!! ARGH! Okay, rant over! Make me happy with a review? Please? If you're nice to me I might put up a preview of the last couple of chapters… the suspense is killing me!