A/N: well I've decided to do the whole orphanage fight and this is the start of it, when they finally meet Timothy! I had a lot of fun with this chapter. To me G would interest the fourteenth because in some ways they are very similar, but he does object to things getting overcrowded. In chapter 187 we were told that Rhoade remembered the fourteenth from 35 years ago. He was not a newborn when he became a Noah, I'd say he was probably an adult. I estimated a little low and decided that maybe he had been 15 (like Allen) which would put him at 50, at the very least. I would like to say a thank you to every one who has reviewed this story. You really make this worthwhile . On that note, please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own -man, I only wish I did.

8. Orphanage

We stood in front of a dreary double story building. Stairs led to the entrance and rectangular windows connected the inside world to the outside one. It was an orphanage, I was surprised to see that this one didn't seem to be doing to badly. In my life time, and I was long past fifty, I had rarely seen an orphanage prosper.

"Are you sure this is it Marie?"

Well it did sound an awful lot like a child nephew, so maybe here makes sense?

"Yeah, this is where G's cries stopped last night."

Something seemed to be bothering Two Pimple, I can't say it bothered me too much but Allen still felt the need to ask about it. That was why I hadn't been focusing on the commotion inside the orphanage.

"Are you still upset about yesterday Link?"

"No."

Yes he is.

"Excuse"

I turned back in time to see the girl from the police station kick a child towards us. A small part of my mind registered that that was child abuse, another part told me that I was a hypocrite but the rest of my mind focused on the fact that collision was imminent. One of the annoying things about not having your own body was the inability to brace yourself for things. Not that the half second between the kick and his head meeting ours was enough to brace yourself in. nor could I have braced myself for what happened. The second our heads made contact I felt another conscious slide in, one accompanied by something almost like me nut I could not find the second thing. I knew it had some but I could not see or hear it.

Hey! We've already got two in here, we don't need to be anymore crowded!

I must admit that the violation annoyed me. again with the hypocrisy, I'm sure my violation did more then annoy Allen but still I regarded him as well… mine. No one else was welcome here, especially not someone who was unwilling to take their time and get to know him.

"Ow"

The voice that came from the mouth was obviously Allen's but somehow I could not call it that. It was all wrong. It rubbed me up the wrong way and I tried to push the unwanted presence from us, but to no avail.

"Huh."

He looked at the hand that had touched my Allen's head. The hand that he had appropriated, the one that was now soaked in blood. My nephew's blood. Surely we had not hit each other that hard.

"Wow."

I was vaguely aware of a conversation continuing behind us but I was more involved in making the intruder feel unwelcome. It seemed that he was not aware of me, even though his presence was a dagger in my side. I wondered why I could still see even though Allen was unconscious. Possibly, we were still more independent of each other than I had realised. I was surprised to find that I was pleased by this. My pleasure was cut short by an annoyingly familiar cry.

"PWAAAAAAH! PWAAAAAH, blood, I'm bleeding, I'm dying!"

It struck me, how young this child was and then it annoyed me. I had spent years perfecting the technique that allowed me to exist as I did now. It had been a strenuous task and one that I had been proud of but here was some young upstart who did unintentionally what I had spent years working on.

"Hey! You're pathetic crying over a little thing like that!"

Don't shake him, I wanted to shout. I could practically hear his teeth rattling in his head. It wasn't like it was Allen who was crying. Couldn't Two Pimple see that it wasn't Allen, that he'd been possessed? I didn't know what was going on with this new child like I understood Allen but I knew this body well enough to guess at some of the changes. Unless I was much mistaken, the penny had just dropped.

"Wh, Where's my body?"

"This one?"

I felt relief flood the body in a way I had felt it do so many times before but it felt wrong to me. possibly it was only because I knew that this was not the changes of my Allen, merely the ones of some stranger but I was not comfortable as I usually was. I looked up and I knew relief was the wrong emotion. Kanda was the one holding the body. Kanda had little by way of inhibitions.

"Yeah that's it…"

Realisation dawned and suddenly Allen's body was drenched in sweat.

"So we meet again, mysterious Thief G."

I was impressed to a certain degree. Not many people could hold a blade to the neck of an unconscious child and look so totally unfazed. In fact, Kanda looked like he may have a bit of a perverse sense of humour. Actually, he looked down right evil.

"Now fess up if you want this body back unharmed that is."

Oh no he didn't, next thing you knew his mind would stay in Allen's body and I would have to take over another mind in the same body! He would cut my Allen's time shorter than it needed to be! I glared at the exorcist and immediately began trying to get through to the child. Fortunately, G was fond of his human body.

***

I was examining my nephew's body, delighted to have it back. I could find not trace of G anymore. I was, however annoyed at the current situation. To stop him from escaping, we had tied up G. I could accept that in fact I supported it, what bothered me was…

"How come I'm tied up too?"

It was quite obvious that this body was once more our own. The child was perfectly capable of possessing anyone in this room if it so pleased him. In fact, he probably wouldn't possess us again because we were tied up and could do nothing. Wait a second. I considered this, our situation didn't seem to bad anymore. In actuality, I was ready to kiss whoever had had this idea.

"It appears Timothy has the ability to take control of other people's bodies at will."

The explanation would sound strange to those who existed outside of our realm. Especially those who lived a life grounded in science. Having been raised by Galmar made me think that the girl was in all likelihood very practical and as a result of that would have trouble seeing what was right in front of her. The nun might be more allowing, after all what was faith but believing in something that could not be proved. A blind leap, trusting in a being far beyond human comprehension, far beyond Noah comprehension too if I were to be entirely honest. I had fought for both sides of this war. I had been one of those chosen by god on the one side and now I inhabited the body of another of the Lord's chosen on the opposite side. Yet I was no closer to understanding Him than I had been when I was small. Maybe I had understood Him better as a child. Children were amazing in that way, their utter and complete, blind faith and the way they sometimes saw to the heart of an issue. Unhindered by the trappings and beliefs of society and the appearances of normality.

"Excuse me? Are you serious?"

I second that

It still did not sit well with me that a child could do with ease what I had spent my life trying to figure out. Allen glared at the nun and the girl, I could sense he was not happy, but then again many would say that his displeasure was written on his face.

"Well I know it's hard to believe."

"But he admitted to it."

I wonder if Kanda knew that children would admit to a number of things that adults would never believe.

"Admitted it? You had a sword at his throat!"

That too.

Something else caught Allen's eyes and for a second I lost track of the conversation. He didn't like the look of the nun in the corner, I can't say I did either. Something in her eyes was wrong. Did she think we were crazy? Part of a cult or was there something more sinister behind that gaze. Whatever it was she left soon enough, after Allen watched her for a while. Had she grown uncomfortable or had she gone to fetch someone. I didn't know and I didn't have the means to convey my doubts.

"Emilia you kicked his associate in the head, so you're no better."

No she wasn't, she caused me more stress than I had felt in many a long year.

"Ooh, sorry."

"Mother Superior, do you know anything about the ball in Timothy's forehead?"

Trust Marie to play peacekeeper and get the meeting back on track. It would be interesting to see where he had picked up the innocence in such a fascinating form. It looked like a jewel; I wonder how many human hands it had passed through without them knowing the true value of what it held. Very many, if I knew anything about humans. I wondered what they would call his type of innocence. It was certainly not crystallization. That left parasitic and equipment but there were arguments for both. It existed within is body but not as part of his body, not like my Allen's arm.

"His father was a thief Inspector Galmar arrested. Once when Timothy was young his father made him swallow a jewel he stole, in order to hide it. When his father was arrested and the Inspector brought Timothy here, he was already as he is now…"

So we ran round the world and the Earl sends his akuma as far as he can, all to find innocence and it falls into the hands of a common criminal. They were not to happy with the idea of us taking Timothy back to the order. The girl, Emilia, she caught what we had not said.

"What if it is innocence? Then what will you do with him."

We'll take him as a pet

Really, what did she think we would do? Could she not see what was right before her? All of the exorcists she saw possessed innocence, was it that hard to join the dots.

"We can't leave him here."

Not if they planned on having a here long. Once the akuma knew about innocence, they'd stop at nothing to destroy it and its host.

"The Black Order will take him in and make him an exorcist."

"No!"

Did he really think he had a choice?

"You can't decide for me."

Yes we could, the Order was full of men and women who'd had their decisions made for them. The day you became compatible with innocence was the day your life left your hands. It was no longer your life, but a life line for many others.

"You're just like my dad, treating me like a thing."

Don't worry, you'll get used to it and there'll be those who don't.

"I want to stay here, I won't leave even if you kill me!"

Did he honestly believe that killing him was the worst that the Order could do?

"I don't care if we have to drag you~~ mmph."

Reasons you put Kanda on a mission, he got the job done. Reasons you didn't put Kanda on a mission that involved tact, he didn't have a tactful bone in his body. Sympathy was far from being his middle name. Thankfully, Marie knew a little more about interacting with other people than BaKanda.

"Forgive me, he doesn't know what he's saying."

I was surrounded by the Mother Superior's arms. I guessed that the lack of a mother took him to the closest alternative.

"You can't force him."

Want a bet?

"That's right! Have you no heart?"

"Maybe we should wait for Komui's orders."

That would merely be postponing the inevitable, but possibly time will let them com e to terms with what is happening. It would also let us build a more persuasive argument like, what happens to people the earl doesn't like. I can go on and on, on that topic. I'm a flesh-encased example. Without warning the sky became dark. It took seconds, that wasn't normal, one of the few times it happened was if someone erected a barrier around you. The only people I knew who did that habitually were the Skulls and the obeyed the Earl. The brother I had abandoned and fought to kill.

"Huh? Outside…?"

"It's still daytime, isn't it?"

"Shit"

I second that too.

"The town…! It disappeared!?"

"No! we're inside a barrier."

Definitely, I thought as I stared out on to the void that now surrounded the orphanage. Then I worried even more, I could see an akuma and Allen's left eye definitely hadn't reacted.