A/N: Here we go! It's Sunday (technically speaking, but I'm not good at waking in a timely manner during the summer) and so we have the second chapter, and the first good look at their... problems.

Thank you to feathered-equine, CaptainOkwd, and RMXStudio for reviewing!

Title: Sweet Dreams

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: None

Genre: Angst/Tragedy

Warnings: Character death, insanity

Summary: Allen was the least stable to begin with, so it was no surprise that he went first. And really, it was a very high-stress job, and a lot of the exorcists were just too young. It was no surprise that they went mad.

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man.

"-and then the Bookman apprentice broke into our cell. Kanda found Walker's cell, and we made our way out from there."

"Casualties?"

"Kanda's healing ability appears to have been nearly worn out. It is... difficult to judge, but I believe that Walker is now blind in his right eye and deaf in his left ear. Johnny died sometime during custody. And then there is the obvious."

"I... see."

Allen looked up from his fingers to watch the light gleam off of Komui's glasses, and then caught his worried expression and smiled reassuringly, though he couldn't quite seem to make the tears stop flowing from his eyes.

It felt like he was forgetting something, though. What was he forgetting?

Oh, well. He'd remember another time.

His eyes drifted to the papers strewn across the floor, and he smiled as a stray breeze made them scatter around some more.

"Do you think they'll ever recover?"

"Yuu and the beansprout, you mean? 'Cause physically, I think they'll be fine. Otherwise? Too early to tell for sure, I think. Two-spot?"

Allen's gaze drifted to Kanda, watching the stretch and fold of fabric with fascination as Kanda fidgeted. He lifted his eyes to observe Kanda's and found them distant, expression tense. Allen laughed. Kanda was always too tense.

"Kanda, perhaps, if we are very fortunate. But Walker… you are aware, aren't you, that Walker was not the most stable to begin with?"

"...Yeah."

"...Peripherally, yes."

Allen heard a knock and lifted his gaze to the ceiling, looking at the cracks. Like an eggshell. He wondered what had happened.

"Who is it?"

The door opened. Allen found a bug on the ceiling and smiled. He liked spiders.

"We need to speak to the Noah immediately."

"Well, I'm afraid there aren't any Noah here, and you need to leave."

"You know of whom we speak, Chief Lee. Give us Allen Walker or we will interrogate him here. It is vital that we learn what we can about the enemy's base."

Allen's eyes turned to his other side and he beamed as he found Lavi looking at him, eye gleaming with concern. Lavi was silly. He told him he was fine! Lavi looked away.

"Look, I don't know if you noticed, but the beansprout's not in a real good condition to be answering questions right now. If you need to know anything, you can ask me or two-spot. We were there too."

"No. We'll talk to the Noah."

Lavi looked angry. Allen frowned.

"It's fine, Lavi," he tried to reassure him. Lavi's frown deepened.

"I'm not convinced that you know what you're saying."

"He said it's fine. We are talking to him whether you like it or not, Bookman. Make way."

Lavi stood up and moved away, and Allen sighed. Well, Lavi had that right, he supposed, but Allen wished he had stayed around.

Oh, wait. He was still in the room. Allen smiled.

There were two more people now, though, with stern, unforgiving expressions just visible behind cloaks. He smiled politely.

"Hello," he told them.

Link looked worried. A lot of people were looking worried today, Allen noticed. He wondered what was wrong.

"Noah."

Allen's gaze drifted away from them, since they didn't seem to be talking to him. He found Kanda, frowning at the ceiling suspiciously. It was good to see Kanda, and he was only a little bit hurt.

"Noah! Look at me!"

"He's not in his right mind. He probably doesn't even realize you're talking to him - he has a name, you know."

"Fine. Allen."

Allen started as he heard his name, and then looked over quizzically. "Yes?"

"We need to speak with you about what happened inside the Noah's base. Now, if you please."

Allen frowned. Inside… the Noah's base? Why? He couldn't seem to remember.

"How many Noah were there?"

How… many? He didn't… Noah? That sounded familiar…

"Were there any weak spots?"

Weak spots? No, no. Stone everywhere. Nothing but stone. Stone, stone, blood and wood and sharpness… Allen started squirming in discomfort, cheeks flushing unhappily, fidgeting.

"Noah! Did you speak to any of your fellow Noah while you were there?"

Speak? Speak to them? Had he spoken to them?

Why were they asking him? He couldn't remember. Were they still talking to him? What did they want?

"Did you see the Millennium Earl? Tell us!"

The… the Millennium Earl? That was what he'd forgotten. Something about the Earl…

The Earl, he had- and he was… Allen's eyes widened in horror. No. No, that had been a dream, that must have been a dream, it was just a dream! No!

"Stop it! Can't you see what it's doing to him?"

"How did your friend die? Did you kill him?"

That was right, that was right, the Earl was- and then Mana had-

Allen screamed. He screamed so loud he couldn't hear anymore, couldn't hear what they were saying, couldn't hear his thoughts inside his head, or Mana- or Johnny- he couldn't hear, he kept screaming, he covered his ears, no, he didn't want-

Suddenly, he was surrounded by something. His face was pressed to a chest, his ears were being covered by hands other than his own, and eventually, Allen's screams, hoarse and terrified, slowed to a stop, and he panted, face flushed and breathless, still whimpering quietly.

"Oh, God."

"Allen? You alright, buddy? ...Ah! Yuu! Okay, fine, okay!"

Allen slowly opened his eyes.

Oh. Kanda was holding him. That was new. He was glaring at everyone else, who looked pale and alarmed. That wasn't. A growling sound rumbled in the air from somewhere near his ear.

He smiled wanly at them. They didn't need to worry. Allen was fine.

They didn't look convinced, though. That was a shame.

His throat felt sore. What had happened?

Oh, right, he'd been screaming. Why had he been screaming? He couldn't remember.

Oh, well. He'd probably remember another time.

"Oh, God, have mercy."

Allen laughed. God have mercy. That was a funny joke. He'd have to remember it.

Yep! Like I said, first good look. Wasn't it nice? *pleasant* I'm having a little more trouble than I expected - this chapter came pretty easy, but the next few I keep going back and editing 'cause they aren't quite as good. *frown* Ah, well. Thanks for reading, and please review!