A/N:Okay, chapter four, chapter four... sorry, I'm going to be away for the next few weeks and I'm trying to arrange all of these in advance, so that all I have to do is put in the reviewers' names, name the chapter (these'll be easy), and post.

Thank you to I love pink, RMXStudio, and MsMusicLover 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.

Allen was on a train. Scenery moved passed the window, and he looked out intently.

"This is such a bad idea."

Allen's gaze drifted from the window and lingered on Link's forehead. It was wrinkled. He laughed; it looked funny.

A growling sound rang in the compartment. Allen patted Kanda's knee absently. It stopped, but Kanda still felt tense. With effort, Allen dragged his eyes over to Kanda, who was staring at the ceiling, scowling at nothing. He looked twitchy. Allen laughed. Kanda didn't react.

Allen let his gaze drift back to the window and he jumped; the fields were gone and now there was stonework.

He wondered what was happening and decided to get up and ask somebody. He stood up and started to move toward the door.

"Allen, sit down."

Allen turned and gave Link a puzzled look. He looked back sternly, and Allen gave a put-upon sigh and sat back down, staring out the window again. There was stonework. It looked nice.

"I can't imagine why they thought this could possibly be a good idea. Everything is going to go wrong, and I won't be able to do anything about it."

Allen laughed. Link was funny.

"We'll be fine, Link," he reassured him anyway, because he hated it when people worried. "We've done this a lot."

"I know, Allen. That's not why I'm worried."

Allen knew that. Allen laughed. Link was still silly.

A lot of things went away when you went mad, but the need to fight wasn't one of them.

The train stopped, and Link got up and left, giving Allen an expectant look. Allen stood up, forgot what he was supposed to be doing, and wandered around in a small circle before he spotted Kanda, tugged him up with a hand on his wrist, and laughed at his scowl. Kanda was grumpy, but he knew he wouldn't hurt him. Kanda had been there, too. When…

Huh. He couldn't remember.

He shrugged and went out the door, and Kanda followed grudgingly, frowning at the floor.

Link was waiting for them, and he frowned as he spotted Allen and Kanda, but then sighed, grabbed Allen's shoulder, and led him off the train. Kanda followed, growling at random passersby, eyes darting and not really looking at anything.

"Remember that you are on a mission. There are no humans here except you two and myself. ...Be careful."

Allen stilled. His eye hurt. His cursed one.

It whirred to life. His breath caught.

Akuma.

Crown Clown woke up. Allen tensed. Strips of clean white Crown Belt wrapped around his limbs, helping him along. He moved.

His arm was gone, but he had his sword. He swung, and people shattered. He panted, eyes wide, not from exertion but from panic and desperation.

No. There were too many. They were everywhere. Allen hated it. The crying. The screaming. Looming threats of death and pain. His friends. His friends! Please, no!

A bullet caught his arm. Green light flared behind his eyes, and the budding infection died. Allen barely noticed. There was a screaming soul in front of him, and his chest hurt. He lashed out, and the screaming ended.

"No, Walker! You're diving right into them!"

Navy blue rushed in front of him, and a whole line of screaming souls faded away. Kanda's eyes were wide and wild, his teeth bared. Animalistic.

Allen turned, and Crown Clown turned, and it was hard to tell the difference. Akuma oil flew through the air, and words followed, but Allen didn't hear a single one.

There were too many akuma.

And they all needed to die.

It was a little harder to move. His body hurt. Crown Clown was helping a little more, urging him along, to destroy more akuma, more souls. He moved faster, slightly gaping mouth changing to form a frightened snarl like he hadn't worn since childhood, tears in his eyes.

He was drenched in sticky red and slick black. His vision blurred, fading in and out, and beyond the akuma there was only violet, laughing, painful violet, dark at the edges and haunting the back of his mind.

It was hard to breathe and he was dizzy. He was thrown to the ground and into walls and people shattered and souls fled and the Earl laughed. There was something about the Earl. Something about the Earl…

"Allen! Stop!"

Allen froze, like a child caught doing something wrong. Even his breath stuttered in his chest.

Link brushed past him and then turned to face him, breathing slightly heavy, hair and clothing damp with akuma oil, skin smudged, but not drenched like Allen. Allen stared at him, eyes wide, breathing erratic and hand too tight on his sword.

Link? Link. Right. Okay. Okay.

"The akuma are dead. Look."

Allen looked.

The buildings were broken. He could see cracks. He remembered making some of them.

Kanda was whirling around, baring his teeth at every movement, hands so tight on Mugen that they were shaking. It was good to see Kanda.

But there were no akuma.

Oh.

"Oh," he repeated out loud, soft.

Link took a long, deep breath, sounding like he needed it as much as Allen did. (Allen couldn't quite seem to manage it, though.)

"Let's go get Kanda. We're returning to the station."

"Okay," Allen repeated quietly, head down, shoulders hunched.

Crown Clown went back to sleep. He missed the feel of its cloak, the weight of the sword, but he couldn't keep it awake forever.

He reached Kanda, Kanda menaced him with his sword and wide eyes, and Allen gently pushed it away, grabbed his hand, and pulled him toward the station. Kanda obeyed with nothing but a scowl.

Kanda was silly. Sometimes he forgot he wasn't tied down anymore, and he could do things now.

When they got there, Link was sitting down, his head in his hands, breathing hard. Allen sat down beside him, curled up in a ball, and started humming, forehead pressed to his knees.

He wondered where he knew this song from. It reminded him of Mana.

Link laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh, though.

But still. It reminded him of Mana.

Something about Mana…

Something about Mana's brother, too… About Neah...

Link was, in fact, right, and this was, in fact, a horrible idea. *shrug* Not that the Central bastards care. Thanks for reading and please review!