Warnings: This story is rated T for shounen-ai/yaoi and…uh…sadness…? AND SPOILER ALERT FOR THE ANIME!

Summary: Komui begins to realize what the Black Order is doing to everyone. Why? Why did they always sacrifice the beautiful ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM, the characters, or the songs in the story.

Beautiful Ones

Original Song: "Beautiful Ones" by Poets of the Fall

Flies with a broken wing.

She's ever so graceful,

So like an angel,

But I see,

Tears flow quietly.

"Komui!"

I turn to find a white-haired boy. He smiles. "I was wondering when my next mission was?"

"Allen, I'm…uh…I'm afraid you won't be going on anymore missions," I say as neutrally as I can.

"Oh, I see," he says. A blonde appeared behind him, though I had known he had been somewhere. "I told you."

Allen ignored Link. "Are you sure I couldn't go with someone? Kanda even?"

I shake my head. "I'm sorry. Central has ordered for you to be in the Order at all times."

"I thought they wanted to kill me? You know, with Neah popping in and out?" Allen asked sweetly with underlying malice.

"That's enough," Link muttered and began to pull the boy towards the cafeteria. "Time for dinner."

Allen nodded and started to walk away, but I grab his arm and whisper in his ear, "Kanda should be back from his mission at midnight."

He gave me a confused look, but I simply returned it with a "you-can't–fool-me" look. Allen smiled, not plastically this time. "Please, don't tell Link."

"Why would I? I just thought you might want to see him and Lavi."

"Thank you, Komui," he whispered before he ran after Link.

I watched them go. Other than Lenalee, Lavi, Reever, Johnny, and I, no one in the Order knew Kanda and Allen had a less than professional relationship, though the only reason Reever and I knew related to when we caught them in an empty corridor with their hands and mouths all over each other. Kanda saw us since he had his back to the wall, but he simply glared and continued to attack his partner's neck, his eyes still on us. It thoroughly creeped out Reever, but I can't say it surprised me all that much.

The struggle she's seen this spring,

When nothing comes dancing,

Paying a handsome fee.

And still she smiles at me.

I sit at the table next to the one in the back. Everyone knows the back table is the place of the closest knit group of friends in the Order, and no one sits there other than the members of that group.

The said group sat there today, all together for once in probably a month. My sister laughed at one of Lavi's jokes while Allen poked at Kanda to try something new. Link ate at a two-person table placed beside them with his eyes glued to the whitette.

"You okay, Chief?"

I glance at Reever. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You've seemed really…off lately," he pressed.

"I said I'm fine!" I snap. Everyone in the cafeteria turned and looked at me. Link wrote down something in a folder. Lenalee gave me a concerned look. "Are you alright, Brother?"

I don't reply and run a hand through my hair. Reever poked at his pasta and avoided my gaze. I sigh. "I'm sorry."

He acts like he didn't hear me, but I knew he did. Sometimes, I snap at him for no reason. Only him. He knows that; I know that. And it ticks me off, but I refuse to let it show.

Suddenly, Allen screams. Kanda and Lavi hold him to the chair, obviously struggling. Even with his back to me, I can see his skin turn dark. The color flowed down his arms and then retreated, over and over. Link stands and begins to chant something, his hands held in one of those weird positions. I almost forgot. He's from CROW.

After a minute, Allen goes limp. It takes a moment for me to realize his shoulders were shuddering. Kanda quickly pulls him up and begins to lead him out of the cafeteria with an arm around his partner's waist. "No, not here."

As they pass, I open my mouth to ask if Allen was okay, but I find myself lost for words when he glances at me and smiles with tears streaming down his cheeks.

And I can't take it.

No, I can't help but wonder...

Why do we sacrifice the beautiful ones?

How do you break a heart of gold?

Why do we sacrifice our beautiful souls?

Heroes of tales unsung, untold.

Levierre hands me a file. "I want you to send Allen Walker on this assignment."

I glance over the papers and look back at him. "Just Allen?"

"And Link."

I stand from my desk and slam my hands down on the desk. "What?! You're telling me to send him into a death trap!"

Levierre's face remained neutral. "I realize that."

"He's only sixteen!"

"He's a Noah."

"If he can control it, there's no reason for him to die!"

"There isn't a guarantee he'll die."

"A town with several level fours spotted? And Noah? You expect him to survive that?"

"No, I do not."

"What about Link?"

"Link has a job."

"If he dies?"

"He dies."

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

I walk towards the cafeteria. I had given the file to Allen a few hours ago, and he was supposed to leave tomorrow morning.

All at once, my back slams into the stone wall while a hand fisted in my shirt holds me off the ground. Cobalt eyes stare at me with such hate and fury I wondered if I might burst into flames. I choke out, "K-Kanda…what…?"

"Why are you sending Moyashi into a death trap without help?" he hissed in almost a whisper, but with a deadly bite like roar.

"Let…me go…" I cough.

"Answer me, Komui!" Kanda growled.

"It's not…m-my…decision…! I…tried…."

My mind was fuzzy, and my vision slowly filled with black. Kanda released me. While I cough and try to fill my lungs with oxygen, the bluenette growled, "Send me with him."

"I can't. I would if I could, Kanda."

"Do not make me choke you again."

"And if you do, I'll report you."

Kanda narrowed his eyes. "When did you become like the rest of the Order?"

"What do you―?"

"I thought that you made it your mission to save the exorcists. What if it had been Lenalee instead of Allen?"

I don't reply.

Oo_oO_Oo_oO

A week later, Allen came back with Link. Levierre's plan backfired on him. Link had two broken ribs, a fractured arm, and concussion because he'd jumped in front of Allen to protect him. He now was in a coma.

No one noticed how close Link and Allen had become. The whitette sat at his bedside every day, most of the day, and Kanda stayed with him a lot of the time.

Sweet as an angel sings,

She gives though she has none left,

But the last one, free,

Unhesitatingly.

Lenalee handed a cup of coffee to me. "Here, Brother. If you don't get any caffeine, you may pass out!"

I smile. "Thank you, Lenalee."

She turned to leave, but my eyes drifted to her legs.

"Wait."

She glanced at me. "Yeah?"

"Where are your leggings?" I ask. Lenalee looked down at her bare legs and then back at me with a smile. "Oh, it's nothing. On my last mission, there was a little girl out in the snow without a coat, so I gave her my leggings to keep warm. Her home had no heat."

I nod.

Oo_oO_Oo_oO

I pause in the doorway of the infirmary. Lenalee, Kanda, Lavi, and Allen sat around Link's bed.

"We should sing to him. Maybe he'll wake up!" Lavi suggested cheerfully.

All eyes went to Kanda. He opened his mouth to object, but Allen's shoulders slumping forward cut him off. After a moment, he muttered, "I'm not singing alone."

"I'll help!" Lenalee chirped. "Do you know 'Given and Denied' by Poets of the Fall?"

Kanda nods. "You take the first verse."

Lenalee smiles and sings, "Which way to the fountain of my youth, I wonder? Which way to the years I let go by? Let a thirsty man drink in his memories while the water still runs sweet and crystal clear…for yesteryear. Oh, to see the sun's eclipse on the horizon like ships sailing way away from here. Oh, just one more time, my dear. 'For I go, hear me out, because of this there ain't no doubt. For it's time for curtain call, just before the shadows…."

"Fall like a leaf in the wind on the ocean of blue, like your eyes in the Twilight Theatre. And symphonies play in a world without sound. We're given and denied."

After a moment, Kanda picks up, "Give me back my innocence, 'cause I wish to dream again, like I never outgrew my old playground where the sun sets slowly with a golden crown and the leaves sing lullabies 'round vacant swings. Give me those wings. Let me fly once again, like I did way back when I would gamble and win to lift me high above the din of the future we seek. Does it hold something for me? I'm weightless again. Just before the shadows…."

"Fall like a leaf in the wind on the ocean of blue, like your eyes in the Twilight Theatre. And symphonies play in a world without sound. We're given and denied."

They sing together, "'For I go, hear me out, because of this there ain't no doubt. For it's time for curtain call, just before the shadows…."

"Fall like a leaf in the wind on the ocean of blue, like your eyes in the Twilight Theatre. And symphonies play in a world without sound. We're given and denied."

"Fall like a leaf in the wind on the ocean of blue, like your eyes in the Twilight Theatre. And symphonies play in a world without sound. We're given and denied."

Allen glanced at Lenalee as they finished the song. "Did I ever tell you what a beautiful voice you have?"

"No, but thank you," she says.

I turn and walk away.

And I am humbled,

I'm a broken mirror,

And I can't help but wonder...

Why do we sacrifice the beautiful ones?

How do you break a heart of gold?

Why do we sacrifice our beautiful souls?

Heroes of tales unsung, untold.

A month later, Link woke up, but he had lost his memories of the past year.

Allen changed on that day. True, he never was the perfect gentleman he pretended to be, but now, he simply did his daily activities without a word. His eating dropped, as well as his weight. He broke up with Kanda. When anyone spoke to him, he nodded, shook his head, or walked away in silence.

But of course, life went on. Kanda became as cold-hearted as ever. Lavi left the Order with Bookman. Lenalee slowly became the same as Allen. Jerry's flamboyance plummeted. No one in the Science Division spoke unless it was instructions.

Why do we sacrifice the beautiful ones?

Why when they walk with love alone?

Why do we sacrifice our beautiful souls?

I sit in the cafeteria with Reever. He was the only one that talked to me anymore, probably because everyone else thought what happened was my fault.

"Chief," Reever said, "they'll get over it. It'll pass."

"You've said the same thing for the past three months. Nothing's gotten better, only worse," I reply as I flip a piece of lettuce over with my fork.

We walk down the hallway in silence. After a minute, I whisper, "I'm sorry."

Reever looks at me. "Huh?"

"It's my fault. If I had only stood up to Levierre, none of this would have happened," I say quietly. I lean against the wall and close my eyes. Suddenly, lips are on mine. My eyes flash open in shock as Reever runs his hand through my hair, his other arm around my waist. I slip my arms around his neck and move my lips against his. When we break apart for air, Reever whispers, "I don't blame you. Everyone else knows what Central really is, but are afraid to blame them. It's not your fault."

I don't reply and kiss him again.

"Wenham! Lee!"

My brain doesn't register the voice until large hands forcefully separate us. Levierre glares at me. "I knew having you at this Branch was a mistake! You'll be sent to the Asian Branch. No communications allowed."

Just trying to find their way home.