Chapter 3 - Holes

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HIS NEXT AGE WILL BE HIM WHEN YOU GAVE HIM HIS FIRST PILE OF DEBT!?" Link shouted and Cross sighed.

"As I said, judging by how much he aged there, his first pile of debt should already have happened. It's not WHEN I gave it to him. It's AFTER." He clarified and looked back at the sleeping child. His hair it's iconic snow white, and the scar was healing faster. "He should be waking up again soon. Shit, how will we explain a child screaming his head off to the Order?" Cross mumbled, getting up.

"Watch him. I'm going to get a bottle of wine." He began to walk out of the room, "And don't worry about me running away. I'll be staying until Allen is normal and I get to beat up Komui."

Link glared at Cross as he left the room, then turned to face Allen. He was beginning to shift in his sleep, which told Link he would be waking up soon. Standing up, Link walked over to the medicine and got ready just in case Allen woke. Sitting back down, he heard the door open, "Link..?"

Looking up, he saw Lenalee and Kanda, "It's our turn to watch him. Komui said for you to return to your temporary room for now to sleep." She smiled weakly and Kanda walked forward, taking the meds from Link's hands before pushing him out of the room, locking the door. "Kanda... Do you think he's going to wake soon?" She asked, worried.

"Possibly. Now go sit down before I end up forcing you." He looked at Lenalee then the boy, who flinched in his sleep. "Che... He's going to wake soon."

Just as Kanda and Link said, he did wake soon. Lenalee unlocked the door for the others and watched as Kanda held Allen down. Blood was running down Allen's face again and he was screaming a cold, bloodcurdling scream. "Che... We need to clean up the blood and wound." Kanda growled as he finally got the medicine into Allen's mouth. Lenalee nodded and grabbed a wet cloth, dipping it into cold water, then changed places with Kanda. She wiped down his face and made sure the bleeding stopped.

"Okay... We should be good now." She got off of Allen and cleaned off the cloth. Kanda looked at the boy, narrowing his eyes.

"He's slowly growing." Kanda pointed out after observing the boy.

"I just hope we have an antidote before... that point in his life." Lenalee whispered and went back to cleaning up the cloth.

When Lenalee was done with her watch with Kanda, she went straight to Reever, seeing as her brother was watching Allen with Lavi. "Reever! How's the antidote?" She asked as she ran into the Science Department section.

"Ah! Lenalee, done with your shift?" Reever turned around and Lenalee nodded. "That's good. Right, the antidote. The process is slow, and I'm afraid we might not make it in time for that time." He frowned at looked back down at the clipboard in his hand. "I have informed Chief Bak about our situation and asked how we should handle the problem just in case. He told me to make sure when it happens, that his room looks foggy, if it is foggy, all we have to do is attach him to an IV. But if it isn't foggy, we need to attach him to a machine that will keep his heart going until he ages."

Lenalee stood there in the silence after Reever told her that and sat down in a nearby empty chair. "I hope we do make it in time. I don't think I'll be able to handle it again..."

"Well, luckily after that, the only painful next will be him stabbing himself with Crown Clown. Also, after a little research, his aging process should go by faster now. We've put something in the medicine that will speed up his aging process. Now it should only last a whole day and a half. So basically 36 hours now instead of 48." Reever gave her a smile.

"Thank you.." Lenalee returned the smile then slowly fell asleep.

Allen woke the next day and sat up, "Where am I..?" He asked and looked around. Link and Cross were watching him again, and when Allen spotted Cross, he made a bolt for the door. The two men were luckily asleep when Allen escaped, so he got away quickly. Looking around, he saw two people walking towards the room he just escaped from.

"He should've aged by now according to Reever's info. This is after all our third time watching him." He overheard the female say. Blinking a few times, he hid behind a conveniently placed pillar and watched them. They entered the room and he following, quickly running before spotted. Hiding under the bed, he listened to the conversation.

"OI! CROSS, TWO-DOTS! WAKE UP!" Someone yelled and he heard shuffling.

"When did I fall asleep...?" Another unfamiliar voice said, and Allen presumed it was the one called 'Two-Dots'.

"Wha? Ah shit, he aged didn't he? He's gone apparently.." Allen shivered at who talked. "Idiot apprentice probably saw me and made a break for it."

"Ehh? Now how are we supposed to find him!?" The female from before exclaimed. Allen scooted closer to the wall and pushed himself lower to the ground.

"I'd recommend one of us stay here just in case he returns. The others will go search for him." Cross stood up, "It'd also be best that I'm not the one who stays here. I say Lenalee do it."

"Lenalee, I trust you can do this properly." Two-Dots also stood up, getting ready to leave.

"Che." The other voice who's name was never said walked out of the room. Cross and Two-Dots followed and Lenalee sat down in the chair.

"Are they gone yet..?" Allen whispered and the girl, Lenalee, froze. He watched as she got down onto the floor and looked under the bed, finding the white-haired boy laying on the floor.

"Allen-kun! Yes, they are gone now." She smiled and he nodded, crawling out from under the bed.

"How do you know my name?" He asked her once he was out from under the bed.

"Cross told me it. My name is Lenalee." She sat back down and he hopped onto the bed.

"Nice to meet you. So... where am I? And why did Master knock me out and take me here?" Allen asked her, rubbing the back of his head from where Cross had hit him.

"You're at the Black Order." She looked at him, "Cross took you here so you could see what real exorcists are like."

"I see... He didn't have to knock me out though!" Allen pouted and Lenalee giggled.

"Che, no luck here. Did he... return..?" The Mystery Man walked in and trailed off when he saw the boy sitting on the bed.

"Sorry, Kanda-kun, he's apparently been in here the whole time. Allen, this is Kanda, he is another exorcist like me." Lenalee pointed at Kanda and Allen cocked his head to the side.

"Why's your hair so long?" He asked and Kanda glared at him.

"None of your business, Moyashi. Lena, I'm going to go get the others. Keep him right there." Kanda walked out of the room again and Allen looked over at Lenalee.

"Miss Lenalee, is he always like that?"

"Sadly, yes. And you don't need to call me Miss Lenalee, Allen-kun, Lenalee or Lena is just fine." She saw his hand behind his head and stood up. "What's wrong? Does it hurt?" She asked, gently moving his hand and checking the back of his head. Allen blushed and tried squirming out of her grasp, "I-I'm fine! Really, I am!"

She gave him a look then grabbed the cold cloth again, putting it on the bump. "That should stop it's swelling." 'So this is when he took on the Mask... He's just as polite and selfless as he is now.'

"Oi! Idiot Apprentice!" They heard someone call from the hall and Allen yelped. She smiled, 'At least good things stayed.'

A few days later and Allen was now the same age as he was when he went on his first mission. He began recognizing us but wondered if the Order always looked like it is now. A few more people were let on about Allen's aging, mainly his other friends.

"So... The screaming a couple weeks ago was... Allen?" Miranda asked and Lavi nodded. Krory looked saddened and Timothy looked surprised, "What happened to him!?"

Lavi explained everything and Marie sighed, "At least he now knows the Order and some people."

They all agreed.

A couple weeks later, they all saw Komui getting ready for something and Lenalee froze. Lavi's face turned grim, walking over to Komui who was placing the equipment in Allen's room. "Is it tonight?"

"Yeah... Link said he'd watch for when it happens and call for us. Just be prepared.." Komui looked at them then continued to place the medical equipment into the room.

"Oi, what the hell are you even getting ready for?" Kanda asked and Lenalee walked away, still not ready.

"Allen's 'death'." Lavi looked at Kanda who looked back at him with a 'are-you-stupid?' look.

"The fuck? Moyashi is still alive though."

"I forgot you never heard about this yet. When our team was in China, we encountered a Fallen, Suman. Allen tried to save him, and nearly succeeded. But Tyki's Teez killed Suman. Allen was all beat up and worn out and couldn't fight Tyki. Apparently Allen was on Tyki's hit list and Tyki destroyed his arm and innocence. Allen made Timcanpy take Suman's innocence away and he did. Tyki pulled out another Teez and using his Noah ability, he made a small hole in Allen's heart." Kanda's eyes widened a bit as he continued to listen to Lavi, "Allen's innocence saved him. Some of the innocence plugged the hole in Allen's heart, allowing him to live as the rest of the innocence became Allen's new arm."

"So the only reason Moyashi is alive right now is because of Crown Clown?"

"Not currently, but yes. Crown Clown is what keeps Allen alive." Lavi looked away and noticed Allen walking their way, yawning.

"And it seems it's time for us to wait."

Link woke so a sudden cracking sound. Looking over towards Allen, he watched as Allen's innocence shattered and his arm disappeared. Link instantly got up and checked Allen's pulse. It was slow and slowly stopping. Link bolted out the door and called for Komui, who was in his office with the others.

"So... He's dead right now?" Cross asked and Lenalee left the room.

"General! And no, he's about to die though if his innocence doesn't act soon." Komui looked around them, noticing the thick fog of innocence.

Lavi walked over to Allen and bent down, placing his head on Allen's chest. Allen's heart stopped for a few seconds and Lavi held in his breath, and after a few minutes, he heard a very slow, faint beating of a heart. Lavi let his breath out and stood back up, "He's alive. His heart stopped for a few minutes though. The innocence must've done it's job. Now, according to what Bak told us, he should be in coma until he ages again."

Komui looked a little relieved, but was still worried. Also according to Bak, Allen's heart kept stopping and restarting for hours until Allen woke up, and it was unknown when or if he'd wake again. Even now, there was a chance of Allen dying.

"Che, the baka. I'll go tell Lenalee before the stress kills her." Kanda left and soon returned with Lenalee, who looked super worried and scared.

"Will he be okay?" She asked and Komui nodded.

"Yeah. Cross, can you please go get Allen some of that medicine so we could hurry up? Link knows where it is." Komui gave them a weak smile and Link sighed, grabbing Cross's arm and dragging him away.

"Baka Moyashi, getting himself killed." Kanda sat down on Link's bed and Lenalee sat in the chair next to Allen.

"So this fog.. it's Crown Clown?" Lenalee asked, moving her hand slight in the air.

"Yes. This is Crown Clown." Komui confirmed, looking at Allen who was sickly pale and only had one arm. "And it seems Allen doesn't have his arm currently."

"Let's just hope he makes it through the night. Coffee anyone?" Lavi asked, getting situated on the wall.

Chapter end! Review if you'd like.

/Nothing else to say/

Bye!
~Stormi