Hana: Heyo~ We're back with a new chapter to share!
Allen: Huh.
Kanda: Che.
Hana: ...please, hold your enthusiasm. -sighs- Welp. Neither XavierForest nor myself own D. Gray-man, but I think that's obvious by now...
Kanda: -rolls his eyes- Just fucking get to it, idiot.
Allen: YU!
Hana: -grins- KYAAAH~! DID Y'ALL SEE THAT EPISODE!? I'M STILL FANGIRLING~!
Allen/Kanda: ...(She's crazy...)
... ... ... ...
+ - Chapter 10 - +
This wasn't how it should've gone
She was supposed to have met with Allen later on at the café and they'd have discussed the next course of action, the way to keep her husband safe. But now?
Her hands shook, eyes on the both of them. Krory lying in the corner, having been shot in the stomach, and that man, that monster at her feet, having fallen prey to her murderous rage.
She didn't know what to do... everything was red... and she was just so angry... and scared... it wouldn't go away...
Eliade fumbled for her phone, hastily searching through her contacts for a name. When she found it, she almost let out a sigh of relief. Almost.
"Allen..." Her voice shook, and she stumbled over to her husband's still form. He was breathing, but barely. "Please help me."
(* *)
Allen had rushed the moment he heard of Eliade's plea. Taking his car, he drove, nearly going over the speed limit just to make it there. When he did arrive, the sight wasn't pretty. "Bl-bloody hell..."
Eliade was fighting over her tears, Krory slumped against the counter, clinging to life, a masked man was dead on the floor. "Allen! Please! Do something!"
"Please tell me you called an ambulance." Seeing her state, Allen quickly deuced that no, she didn't. Pulling his phone out, he dialed, "Hello? Yes, I have to report a shooting at Krory's Antiques...my name is Allen Walker, the owner, Arystar Krory was shot, and there's another man who appears dead..."
"Allen?"
"Just get a bloody ambulance over here! The owner is a friend of mine! If he dies, it'll be on YOUR bloody conscious!" He hung up, glaring at the phone.
Next, Allen went straight into professional mode, rolling Krory so that he was face-up, and the applying pressure to the wound.
"It's all my fault..." Eliade sobbed, shoulders shaking. "He c-came af...ter me... and Krory got in the way... even th-though you warned me..."
"It's okay, he'll be okay. It looks like he wasn't shot anywhere vital...Eliade, what on Earth happened here?"
"That man...he's the same man from earlier...he tried to shoot me, but Arystar...he got into the line of fire...Allen, he took a bullet...I saw red...and th-then...and then the assailant was dead..."
"They'll let you off for that one, even I can tell it was self defense..." Something seemed to have clicked, as he looked at the woman, "Eliade, you're...?"
"H-huh?" Her hands trembled, a headache forming beneath her temples. That was strange... normally she wouldn't have cared... killing was second nature to her... was it because Krory was injured? Because it was her fault? Because...
"You're...with child, aren't you?" Eliade blinked slowly, looking to the white-haired male. "He doesn't know about it, does he?" It was statement, not a question.
"He...doesn't...I was going to tell him, but then...this..."
"I'm gonna need you to calm down for me. Can you do that?" He asked, voice soft.
She nodded once, taking in a deep, shaky breath.
"Good. Stress won't do you, or your unborn child any good." Allen recalled what a friend of his told him. "Why did you call me for?"
"Because...only you can help put an end to the killers."
The boy flinched, head whipping to the side so he could actually look at Eliade. "What do you mean? How could I help you with something like that?"
"NOAH... Crowned Clown... I know... so you don't have to pretend..." She mumbled, eyes on her husband. Was he supposed to be that still? "Help me... NOAH are strong... so you should be able to do it..."
"I'm not a NOAH. Crowned Clown is dead."
"Allen...they're killing AKUMA. You have to do something...most of us have lives..." Before he could answer, sirens sounded, and Allen knew the ambulance had finally arrived.
"I'm not Crowned Clown!" He hissed, hands clenched into fists.
"Please...if you don't...who will?" The paramedics entered, not giving Allen time to reply.
"Are you the one to call in this incident, young man?"
"Ah, yessir."
Them took one look around and were at Krory's side in an instant, assessing his injuries and prepping him to be moved to a stretcher.
"Ma'am, you're going to have to stay put for questioning of the police." One of the paramedics told Eliade.
"Y-yes, I will."
"And you," one of the men glanced over at Allen, "will also have to stay."
"I'm not sure how much help I'd be, but okay..." Allen said, "I only got here after all this happened."
As he spoke, the Brit slowly made his way over to Eliade, carefully avoiding tables of fragile antiques and old wooden furniture that stood alone. How could she know? All he'd done was warn her; she shouldn't have been able to figure it out! They'd only met once before, and he hadn't even really talked to her, just commanded her unit while the Earl was busy with something else and needed a clean-up job completed within a certain timeframe.
Then again...no a lot of people had white hair...and while Wisely did, he never had a reason to...oh, so that's how she figured it out. How could he had forgotten she once had the best people who were in her Intel?
Dammit, she knew from the beginning. He groaned. "I hate you."
"I know."
"Why me? I just wanted to live a normal life..."
The blonde winced, looking away guiltily. "I'm sorry... I just couldn't do this alone." And then she frowned, having a question in mind that begged for an answer. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but do you think it was smart of you to get engaged to an FBI agent, considering who you are?"
Allen gave the woman a stiff smile. "He knows exactly who I am. He was originally working to arrest me... but now... The world works in really weird ways..."
"I suppose I shouldn't be talking then...I was originally supposed to kill the man I married."
"Why do you—"
"Sir, ma'am, police and FBI are here."
"Allen?" "Moyashi." Wow. Two familiar voices. What're the odds?
"Officer Moa, Yu..."
"Why am I not surprised?" Kanda asked, crossing his arms. "When you rushed out this morning, I didn't think this was why."
"Yeah...I don't know the whole story here either, honestly." Looking around he saw the police putting the yellow "Crime Scene. Do Not Cross" tape over the door and windows of the small shop. He also spotted a face he only saw just last night, feeling a mixture of embarrassment, and dislike. "He's here too."
"Unfortunately." Kanda grumbled. "You can get to the questioning, I'm going to check on the corpse."
"Yessir." Moa said, already pulling out her pad and pen.
"Can we go upstairs?" Eliade ask, gesturing to the stairs leading to the home she and Arystar shared. "We'll be out of the way."
"Very well."
Allen offered Eliade a hand when the woman nearly tripped up the first step, adrenaline gone from her body and leaving the poor woman a tired mess. She gratefully took the hand, allowing herself to be helped up the stairs and into the living room, where the two ex-criminals sat on one couch, and the other woman across from them.
"You know, Allen, this is the second time I find you in a crime scene." Moa said, sitting on the adjacent chair.
Allen chuckled, "Ah...we should maybe stop meeting in such ways?"
"It's a habit at this point."
"You've met each other before?"
"Long story." Allen and Moa both said.
After a moment, Eliade just shook her head. "Anyway, you wanted to ask some questions...?"
"Yes, can you tell me exactly what happened?"
"W-well..um..." The blonde glanced at Allen, and she understood the warning conveyed in his eyes. "That man downstairs... he tried to attack me... and Krory... h-he..." The Brit took her hand back in his, trying to comfort the distressed woman. "Krory got shot instead... and I was scared and angry... so I fought back when he c-came after me... and the next thing I knew...he was just... laying there... and I panicked... s-so I went through my phone and..." Her brown eyes met a silver pair, and she calmed a little. "Allen was the l-last person I'd called... I must had hit 'redial'..." That was a lie, and the two of them knew it. However, that was the answer Allen had wanted her to give. There was no need for anyone to know of... the true reason why Eliade called him of all people.
"What did you call him for before then?"
"She called me to talk about a surprise for Krory. Their anniversary was coming up, and she wanted to know if I could help her." This was true, actually. After all, a good lie had some truth to it.
"We were going to meet at the café. Arystar would've been busy manning the store, because at the time I had told him that later this morning, I would've been going to meet an old friend."
Officer Moa wrote it all down, then turned to face Allen. "And you? What were you doing before this?"
"I was in bed," he said without any hesitation or pauses, because it was the truth. "Ask my fiancé, he's downstairs right now."
"I'll...just take your word for that one..."
"He only tries to decapitate you if you call him by his given name...or if you're Lavi."
Moa adjusted her glasses, and then sighed, "Yes, that would make sense...but he was grumpy...hey! I'm supposed to be asking you questions not having a friendly chat!"
To this, both Eliade and Allen laughed a little.
"So..." The officer skimmed over all she'd written. "Is there anything else you can tell me? Like why that man attacked you?"
Eliade's expression soured. "No... I don't know why he'd... this is an antiques store... why would anyone want to steal from us?"
"Antiques tend to be worth a lot." Moa explained. "That painting I saw behind the counter must've been worth thousands, right?"
"We hadn't gotten it appraised yet, actually." Eliade admitted, "The appraiser is out of town, so we have to wait until next week. But the urn we're selling, that dark one the hieroglyphs design around it, that I know is close to a couple thousand...but he never went after it."
"I see...did you know the man?"
"He didn't sound familiar, and of course I couldn't see his face with that mask."
"Is there any other reason you could think of? Anything at all?" At the shake of both Eliade's and Allen's heads, Moa sighed. "Alright then," she said, standing, "thank you for your time."
The moment Moa left, Allen released a sigh he didn't know he was holding. "In the words of my fiancé, 'you have a fucking lot to tell me.', so spill, who on earth was that man, and what was he really doing here?"
The blonde gave the other a weary look, and then grimaced. "You're the one who told me that I was being targeted; I think he was the one sent to kill me."
"Doubtful. I think that time it was an actual robbery gone wrong." Allen sighed, resting his head on the back of the couch. "That wasn't the same man that I ran into the other day on my way here."
"How could you tell?"
"The guy who was here yesterday, he's taller than the man on his way to Komui's morgue." Allen said. "I saw both their eyes. This one, he had dull brown eyes, but the other...I only saw them for a moment, but they were black."
Eliade's hand in his went slack, her whole body loosening as she relaxed. "Oh..."
"That doesn't mean you're not out of the clear yet."
"I'm just glad the same man didn't come twice in a row...but you're right. I shouldn't be too lax right now."
"Keep in mind, there's a child in the mix. You can't afford to be too stressed out either."
"I don't... the child... I'm more worried about Arystar... I don't have the capacity to think of my unborn child right now..." She whispered, as if it pained her to admit that.
"You'll have to start."
"I'll...try."
"Good. Now, I need to find a place to start this apparent investigation."
"Thanks..."
Allen gave the woman a weak smile. "Chin up, okay? Krory will be fine, his wound wasn't life threatening."
"You sound quite certain."
"I once had a friend who was studying to be a doctor."
"'Once had'?" Eliade queried, brows furrowed.
"He died." The Brit shrugged. He'd gotten over it years ago. "Anyway, as someone who spent over half of my life killing people, I can tell you that a shot like that isn't going to cut it. If it'd been a little to the left, though, it'd be another story."
"Oh."
"I'm surprised you never knew that much."
"We're trained to kill." Eliade bluntly stated. "We're only told why we have to shoot. But never exactly where. If we get lucky, then great. At least that was the lowest level. I know it's more in-depth with those of my level, meaning higher is perhaps more so strict."
"Makes sense." Allen grumbled. "NOAH are...thorough with their...and I use this term loosely, 'family'."
"Were they 'thorough' with you?"
Allen flinched. "Th—" He tried, only to be interrupted by the arrival of his fiancé.
"Not interrupting anything, am I?"
"Not at all." Eliade said, "Have you found anything?"
"Too early to tell." Kanda grumbled. "Moyashi, let's go—" From where they were, they heard shouts, and then gun shots. All three sets of eyes widened, the two males rushing to the window to try and see what had happened. What they saw wasn't pretty. An officer was down, clutching his arm, while his partner was calling for backup. "What happened down there?" Kanda ordered from his spot, the two officers looked up to where Kanda had called.
"Agent Kanda! A man wearing all white had just been here!" The uninjured man said, "Chaoji Han just ran after him!"
"That idiot!" Kanda all but growled. "Moyashi, stay here. I'll be back." Without room to argue, Kanda had rushed out of the room, Allen seeing him go the direction the officers had pointed once he got to them.
"Go ahead and follow him." Eliade said. Not needing more encouragement, and already planning on screwing Kanda's orders, he ran off.
The boy bolted down the stairs, hesitating by the door to get a better look at the officer on the ground. Seeing that the man had managed to stem the flow of blood, Allen continued on after his fiancé, ignoring how Moa ordered him to stay put.
It wasn't much longer before he finally managed to catch up with older male.
"You really can't follow orders." Kanda said without turning around. "I should know that much by now."
"We've been together... for a year now," the Brit huffed, having nearly caught up to his lover, "you really should have."
"Che."
"Yu, what's going—oh my god..." The moment he was beside his lover, the first thing he saw was Chaoji Han. Face down. In a pool of his blood. He didn't need to turn the body over to know he was shot more than once...but he hadn't heard any firing since the officer got shot...just what was going on?
What made things all the worse, though, was that the man they'd been chasing was long gone.
Kanda pulled the boy close, spare hand in his pocket searching for his phone.
"I'm...no stranger to death...but this..." Allen trailed off, eyes never leaving the corpse. "Yu...who are you calling?"
"The office; I've gotta call this in."
As much as Allen himself had hated the Chinese man on the ground before him, he could say with absolute certainty that he'd never wanted him killed.
"Right..."
... ... ... ...
Seriously, Neah just might beat out Road with my favorite Noah...hehehe~ ❤
Anyway~ even though I'm sure I need it...R&R ain't for rest and relaxation. Leave a review, and give this story some well deserved love! We'll see you next week, on Fade to Gray!