Caretaker

From Paris With Love

"At least I'm not in a relationship with Matt," Road states with a sigh. Sheril quickly glares at both Matt and Alli.

"Don't think you're done with that situation you two!" he says with a twitch. The rest of dinner was eaten in silence and glares.

She sleeps there on her bed with absolute peacefulness; as though nothing in the world could interrupt her. Her breath is quiet, but her mouth is slightly ajar with nothing but air seeping out. Her eyes are closed, but show moved beyond the eyelids. Everything in that moment is peaceful, until a sudden explosion erupts from outside her room.

Alli bolts upward as she quickly heads out of her bedroom and into the main hall where Shadow usually was. But lately, Shadow hasn't been seen since the incident in Spain, so Alli could only wonder if Shadow had returned or was hurt by one of her experiments. Smoke fills the area as Alli coughs whilst waving her hand to rid the smoke from her face.

"Shadow, what the bloody hell are you doing?" she asks angrily worried. There's no answer, except a faint cough from across the room. Alli quickly runs to where she heard it, and finds her Noah companion sprawled on the floor. Her hair covered in charcoal, as well as the rest of her body. Alli latches onto Shadow's arm and pulls her forward.

"Alli? What-?" Shadow stops speaking from the loss of blood on her head. Alli quickly takes her to her quarters to patch her up. She lays her friend on her bed as she runs to grab the first aid kit in her dresser drawer. She starts to clean Shadow's wounds, but quickly realizes that Shadow can heal on her own; she isn't human. Alli cleans them anyways, and bandages them. After some time, Shadow wakes up from her slumber with a startle.

"Whoa! Slow down there, or you'll get a migraine," Alli informs as she slowly lays Shadow in an upward position, though still laying down.

"What happened? Did I fall?" Shadow asks quickly.

"Slow yourself; nothing bad happened. There was an explosion of some sort and you looked as though you were the main target. Luckily I was here so you weren't severely traumatized," Alli states with sigh. "Do you mind telling me why there was an explosion in the hall?"

Shadow's slightly confused as everything comes back to her, "I remember waking up in the dungeon. I haven't a clue how I ended up there, but all I remember is standing in a forest. . ."

"That's actually when I woke up from you taking over my body. By the way, what in God's name possessed you to walk around naked with my body?" Alli ponders angrily. Shadow smirks.

"Oh you could only wish to know what happened," she says mischievously. Alli glares at her. "Anyways, I walked out and found a nice package sitting on one of the tables. I thought it would be something you left for me; you know, since you like me oh so much."

"Yes, because me wanting to destroy you says that I've been smitten with jealousy after taking a slight glance your way," Alli snaps sarcastically. Shadow only snorts.

"You wish you were," she states. "I only remember seeing you in front of me shouting 'What the bloody are you doing you idiot!'"

"I didn't call you an idiot," Alli defends whilst pointing towards her Noah companion. Though I did think it. . . Shadow slowly lifts herself from the bed, and heads towards the doorway. "Oi, you mind telling me what happened between you and the Earl?"

Shadow stops for a moment, then turns towards the golden-haired woman. "That's a story saved for a rainy day. . ."

"Then could you at least tell me why I woke up naked in a forest!" Alli shouts as Shadow exits the room.

"Nope!"

:+:

"Sheril, what are you doing?" Gabby asks as she stares at the man with uneasiness. Sheril sits at his desk with files stacked high on one side, and a few on the other. He sifts through all of his paperwork as he tries to find a specific piece of paper. Alli leans against the bookshelf with annoyance as her patience wears thin. Road comes in with her usual smirk whilst grasping a shouting umbrella.

"Ah! Here we are!" Sheril pulls up a file with the word confidential stamped upon it. All three girls wonder what's inside. "Sorry, I've been missing a file from work and I've finally found it."

"Why are we here?" Alli asks icily; her patience now degraded.

"You three have to retrieve an innocence that has been spotted in Paris," Sheril explains calmly. "Head out as soon as possible."

:+:

"Ah Paris; the city of love and romance. Alli, you should've brought Matt; could have been your chance to-" Gabby is cut off by Alli kneeing her gut.

"Sorry, what's that you said?" Alli asks quizzically as they stop in front of a church. Crows and finders surround the building, but it's mostly crows. "All right, we need a plan."

"Oh! I've got one!" Road exclaims as she raises her hand frantically. Alli rolls her eyes at gestures to the girl. "We should take their uniforms and go in disguised."

"The girl has a point, it's a safer way to enter without being noticed than killing on site," Gabby states. "In fact, it's our only option."

"All right, then let's not waste anymore time." The girls quickly head over to the guards; four are outside. All three quickly kill them in silence as they grab the uniforms from the corpses. As they enter the hall, they're bombarded by a bright light that comes from inside the facility. The girls go their separate ways as Alli comes in a little closer. . .

"What is in front of me, Mr. Gill?" Leverrier asks sternly and without emotion as Johnny Gill walks over to the cylinder in the middle of them.

"I call it the innocence bow," he says as he gestures to the tube. Leverrier seems unamused by it. Lavi stands beside the inspector with unease. "What's wrong Lavi?"

"This may sound bizarre, but I sense a Noah. More than one in fact," Lavi informs with nervousness. The inspector snorts.

"That's absurd, no Noah would be able to pass our crows unless they killed everyone on site to get down here. Now, Mr. Gill, please continue your presentation; this time without any interruptions," Leverrier says with a glare towards Lavi. The red-head only gives a warning gleam towards the angered man.

"As I was saying, the innocence bow can be used by finders to defend themselves from akuma. It's perfect for both exorcists who need a replacement weapon and our finders," Johnny continues. "The innocence we last obtained can invoke with any who use it, even if it's an exorcist."

"So this will be useful for defending from Noah as well?" Leverrier asks.

"Technically speaking, no, but it can bide you time as well as only wound them for a short while," Johnny explains. Alli wonders if the bow has anything to do with the innocence from the stone in the desert. If anything, it could be exactly what she's thinking about. . . A sudden blur dashes in front of Alli and the others. The cylinder is taken as the blur quickly heads towards the exit. Another blur follows pursuit.

Alli follows after Lavi as Lenalee and Kanda suddenly appear along side. As they exit outside, Lavi and Lenalee dash toward both Road and Gabby, who was holding the bow. Crows gather beside Alli as they all start to put up talismans and charm barriers. Gabby notices one of the crow's fingers twitching to the right. She immediately recognizes who it was and throws the bow to her.

Alli grabs the bow as she takes off her disguise.

She runs.

What the heck's up with Shadow? Where did that present come from? Will Alli and the girls survive the upcoming fight and manage to keep the bow? Find out in the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM, Hoshino does~ Nor do I own Matt Kamelot, Wanderer does~

Claimer: Anything not mentioned in DGM, belong to me~