They stayed with him for five days. After the third day, they'd moved him back into the Infirmary because most of the equipment had been fixed, and at the least they had actual chairs to sit in, rather than the folding, wooden kind. Every day, they sat there and waited, all four of them. It was all they really could do. When Bookman would leave for a conference with Alonzo, who'd managed to stay alive, Esperanza or Ricardo would watch Lavi and make sure that he was getting the right amounts of medication. They slept in shifts in case he woke up. They took turns going and getting food, water, or a bathroom break. As the days dragged out, it seemed like he'd never wake up.

Bookman rarely left his apprentice unless he absolutely had to. He'd sit there holding his hand, and he'd patiently wait. Bookman didn't think he'd ever get used to the raspy, pained breathing issued from his student, but Lavi was progressively breathing easier. Bookman had cast several more spells, using Esperanza as the energy source seeing as Bookman was running out of reserves. He was an old man, and his body didn't work like it used to. Several times, he'd fallen asleep during his shift, and Darrin had been kind enough to move him to a more comfortable spot in the Infirmary while he took over the shift. More than once, Bookman had caught Darrin talking to Lavi while he lay comatose, telling him stories about things that happened out in the mountains or during the long trek across the American West. Ricardo would chime in quietly now and again, the sandy-blond scientist taking time off of his work when he could to visit and wait for the man to wake up.

Esperanza, oddly enough, seemed the most detached. So far, she'd only held his hand once. Bookman came up with a theory; she was a reserved Hispanic, and she probably didn't think it appropriate to touch someone else without their permission, even a friend. Never the less, she was the least vocal of the group, preferring to watch Lavi rather than speak to him or touch him.

The days had passed by like molasses through a sieve, slowly dripping from one moment into the next. People rushed around and tended to the other wounded, and Esperanza and Bookman helped where they could. Ricardo was sent to work, fixing the other pieces of damaged equipment, and they all did their part while Darrin healed his own injuries. When they were all together and lacked work, they'd sit and talk to each other. Darrin continued to fiddle with the canister that he'd had with him since the day he'd arrived, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it open. Bookman worked on the translation tirelessly when he wasn't tending to his apprentice. In this slow and steady fashion, they spent their time watching and waiting, hoping fervently yet silently, for the redhead.

On the fifth day, Bookman fell asleep against the bed, Lavi's hand firmly in his own. Abruptly he woke up as he realized that something had changed. The old man jerked completely awake, looking up at the young man with bleary eyes before realizing that his breathing was faster, though not necessarily in a dangerous way.

"Hey," Lavi croaked. His voice was scratchy from neglect, and his lips were dry. Bookman almost thought he was dreaming, but the sudden pressure on his hand said otherwise. The wounded man's fingers curled around Bookman's arthritic digits gently, and Bookman gave a great sigh, almost as if he'd been holding his breath these past five days. In a fit of affection and absolute relief, Bookman brought Lavi's hand to his mouth and gave it a kiss, pressing it to his forehead as he breathed, "Thank God. You're alive."

"What, I'm breathing, aren't I? Was I not before?" Lavi rasped, a small smile at the edges of his lips, and Bookman rolled his eyes. Yeah, he was definitely alright. He was already cracking jokes. Bookman shook his head, and he patted Lavi's hand. Lavi scrunched his face in pain as another wave of agony rolled over him, and Bookman gave him another painkiller to stave off the discomfort.

"How long?" Lavi croaked, and Bookman took a wet rag out of a bowl. He offered it to Lavi, and the injured Exorcist took it, pressing it between cracked lips. He wouldn't be able to take water directly out of a cup for a while.

"Five days," Bookman sighed, running a hand over the section of his pate that was bald. And what a long five days it had been. The other three were asleep. It was the early, early hours of the morning, and all of them looked half their age in sleep. Lavi turned his head, and he put the rag back into the bowl with difficulty.

"Sheesh, you guys sat here for five days? I would've lost patience already," Lavi joked, a small smile cracking his face. He looked down at himself, and he frowned.

"Why am I wearing different clothes?" Bookman gave a sardonic look. The clothes he'd had on were filthy, disgusting, and all around unsanitary. Bookman and Ricardo had opted to switch him into something a little bit more comfortable and clean.

In this case, pajamas with lambs on them. It was all that they had on short notice. Ricardo had had to dig them out of his own trunk.

"That's not important. How do you feel?" Bookman stated, cutting to the quick. Lavi winced as he took a deep breath. It took him several moments to respond as he mustered what little energy he had.

"Been better," he answered after much deliberation. Bookman gave a short chuckle, and Lavi smiled wider. The redhead attempted to sit up, and Bookman quickly stood up to push him back against the bed.

"Don't move for now. You might rupture something I've stitched up on the inside. It's been five days, but it's still too soon to say if it's healed any," Bookman warned, and Lavi nodded as he lay back against the mattress. It wasn't the most comfortable thing the world, but it would do for now. For a long time, they stayed quiet. The sun rose slowly like a sleepy lion, growing more powerful until a mane of rays surrounded it and poured forth into the windows of the Infirmary.

"I think it is time I told you about double manifestations. This has gone on for too long," Bookman said quietly. He had been thinking of this for a long while. He was no fool - he had seen Lavi's progress from above the battlefield, and he knew that his apprentice was still battling the illusions his mind created to torment him. Guilt was a strong thing - a guilty mind, even more so. It was not just guilt that assailed Lavi, though. There were other, underlying, perhaps even congenital, problems within his mind that may need fixing, and doing so would not be easy.

"Double manifestations?" Lavi asked slowly, breathing out every syllable with deliberate care. He made use of every breath of air in the interest of conservation. Bookman knew his chest must feel tight and painful. There was only so much painkiller they could give him. He had lost a lot of weight in the past few months - at last weigh in, Bookman recalled him being about twenty pounds lighter than when he'd begun this mission. From Esperanza's last report, Lavi had had to stop eating because his synesthesia was bad enough to make him vomit. Bookman had seen that himself when Lavi had walked out on the battlefield and visibly taken sick. They had been to thousands of battles, and Bookman remembered his own time struggling with memories rushing back to him. How much worse to remember the emotional attachment along with the horror accompanying such an event?

Bookman glanced back at the sleeping Esperanza, feeling guilty all of a sudden. He had not been entirely truthful with Lavi. In fact, neither she nor he had been truthful.

"You know what it is," Bookman said, letting out a long sigh. "Two people enter the same mind, and the one guides the other. It's an ability that does not belong to everyone. It is reserved for Bookmen and their successors along with a select group that has the ability within the clan," Bookman said, closing his eyes and steepling his fingers. Here was the kicker. Double manifestations, to be frank, were dangerous. If there was too much pull on one side or the other, one mind would engulf the target mind and they'd get nowhere. If the other person got lost or entranced while in the memory manifestation, usually a person who had the ability but not the training to withstand such vivid memories, they became mentally trapped and there was no getting them back out.

"You want to try that?" Lavi asked slowly, and Bookman shook his head. He opened his eyes.

"Not right now. Unless you were literally dying at my feet and there was no way of saving you, I would have in order to find a place to store your memories by overlaying some of the less important ones in my own mind. However, that is not the case, and I will not push you while you are recovering," Bookman explained. He sat up straight in his chair as dawn's light warmed his wrinkled face, and he looked back at Esperanza again. He wondered if he should say anything. What good would it do?

"Hey, Jiji... there's smoke coming out of your ears. What's the matter?" Lavi slowly drawled, his one eye half-closed from exhaustion and medication. Bookman looked back at the man on the bed, and he thought about the spark still in that green eye despite the fact he was drugged up enough to knock out a grown elephant. It was a wonder he'd woken up in the first place. It must be wearing off again. Even with the lack of food, his metabolism consumed like a fire. Medication had always had a minimal effect on him.

"Nothing, idiot apprentice. Your eyes are getting glare off the sun. You should rest," Bookman suggested quietly. He didn't want to wake the other three right now. Lavi was still weak. In fact, it looked like it took him conscious effort to breath. Nevertheless, it was best that he get his sleep. His chances of surviving his ordeal had just spiked.

Lavi's eye widened, and he suddenly stopped breathing. For a minute Bookman was afraid that he was having a relapse, but it appeared that whatever it was only lasted a few seconds as Lavi tried to calm himself down and breathe again. He lifted a shaky head to wipe at his face blearily, muttering something to himself. Bookman frowned, and he shook his head. Patting Lavi's hand, Bookman settled back into his chair. Within moments, Lavi was asleep again, although fitfully. Now that he was awake, it would be difficult for him to sleep again. Bookman pursed his lips in thought as he flipped through a text, feeling lighter.

Esperanza woke up soon after that. She was an early riser, he'd give her that. She took one look at Lavi, and she said, "You didn't wake me up." She didn't sound angry, sad, or excited. It was a statement. Perhaps that was one of the things Bookman liked about Esperanza so much. Of course, 'like' was probably too strong a word. Perhaps 'respect' was a better one. Bookman cocked his head to the side as he stared at her, one brow raised in slight amusement. He still couldn't really tell if he was fond of her or not. She was the source of Lavi's mental distress. Or, at the very least, somewhere in the middle of it.

"I apologize. You took double watch yesterday. I thought you'd need your sleep," Bookman stated blankly. Despite the heartfelt discussion they'd shared earlier in the week, they'd reverted to once again being all business with each other, keeping a safe distance as always. Neither could truly decide whether they liked the other or not for varying reasons, and that caused a bit of tension. Esperanza stood up and walked around to the bed, standing near the foot rather than the head in order to keep her presence from waking the sensitive apprentice. She looked over at Bookman and opened her mouth, and then she clamped it shut. She crossed her arms in a rather decisive fashion before saying, "I tried very hard." Bookman eyed her with a noncommittal stare.

"He's a likable person. It's hard to distinguish act from emotion," Esperanza sighed, rationalizing of course.

"I know. I taught him a little too well, apparently," Bookman responded. Esperanza suddenly answered back, "I wasn't talking about him." There was a quiet pause as the two thought of the irony of the situation. Such an odd predicament.

"You told me to get close to him. That's what I did." Her words lilted with her accent, and Bookman sighed. It was easy to see where Lavi had strayed. Bookman hadn't thought this out very well. Perhaps if he'd searched for a more conspicuous Exorcist, like a forty-year-old man with scars and a penchant for lacking subtlety or a middle-aged Finder he had under his thumb, Lavi would've been more miffed than insane. Esperanza had looked like an appealing proposition on paper. Young, agile, a Hispanic who was stoic enough to keep him on his toes but young enough to relate and just 'naive' enough to seem free of Bookman's plans. The fact she'd been in the Wildcat Wars had also been a big plus. He could kill two birds with one stone - see how well Lavi did out on the field by himself while teaching him a lesson about impartiality.

Well, that plan tanked hard. Look where they were now.

"No worrying about that now. You played your part a little too realistically," Bookman said, his voice taking on an accusatory tone for all of a second. This time, Esperanza's eyes tightened.

"You said to get into his head. I did as you asked," Esperanza said quietly. "I am not anything if not dutiful." Bookman sniffed derisively.

"Still, it would've been better if you'd kept a safer distance. I believe it is time you cut ties with us to give him some breathing room. Tell him everything and so forth. Make it a clean break," Bookman critiqued, and Esperanza's expression turned dark.

"What would you have me do? If I leave, he gets worse. If I stay, he gets worse. He doesn't take care of himself if I'm not there to shove food down his throat and stick him in the shower every few days," Esperanza grumbled belligerently. Bookman raised an eyebrow at the woman, surprised at the concern she was exhibiting. Esperanza was not known to be a caring woman. Quiet, yes; patient, yes; insightful, yes; but concern was not in her arsenal of traits. The most she had shown care for was her horse and her family.

"Between the two of you, it's even hard for me to distinguish what is 'act' and what is 'genuine'. You are a confusing bunch," Bookman grumbled. Esperanza sighed in agreement, her face neutral. Nevertheless, the two talked further on a few topics pertaining to Lavi's mental health, going extensively into detail as quiet as they could. Bookman hadn't had a full report on everything, and Esperanza could only tell him so much on the phone before Lavi started to notice that she was talking about him and not Order plans. It wasn't long before they strayed on how to keep Esperanza out of touch, at least for the time being. Out of sight, out of mind... hopefully.

"You should do it soon, then. I'll phone HQ for your replacement." It was very quiet for a while, both lost in their thoughts. Bookman was deliberating; what she had said was true. Lavi didn't take care of himself very well without her in his current condition. He was too preoccupied on staying in the present and working on what was in front of him to eat, sleep, bathe, make himself somewhat presentable, what-have-you. Esperanza was a great help in that aspect. At the same time, she posed a great risk as well.

"I should've known better than to give instructions to you in English. Since when did 'watch' mean 'be a nanny'?" Bookman muttered. Esperanza only gave a sharp 'tch'.

"Did I miss somethin'?" Darrin mumbled from his own bed down the way. They'd forced him to sleep in a bed due to his wounded leg, which may or may not have an infection. The two turned to look, and Esperanza sighed, "Yes. Nos amigo woke up nearly ten minutes ago." Darrin cursed vehemently, and Esperanza rolled her eyes as an older woman in the bed beside Darrin's threw her tin mug at him and yelled, "Vuelva a dormir, estupido!" She rolled over, and Darrin stared at her before making faces childishly. Cantankerous as always, he got out of bed and walked over to them despite his leg, dragging the cylinder of brass behind him.

"How's he?" Darrin muttered, jerking a pointy, stubble-covered chin. Bookman idly wondered if he'd ever seen the man with something as close as a shave. He couldn't recall, which meant... never.

"Better. If you're not quieter, though, he'll wake up again, and he needs the sleep," Bookman said patiently. Darrin nodded, and he took his seat. Ricardo slumped at that moment into Darrin's lap, and Darrin visibly suppressed the urge to cuss as loud as he could while his face slowly took on a red cast. Esperanza raised both eyebrows, gruesome scars stretching with the moving skin. Darrin shoved the man off his lap, and Ricardo woke up with a start on the concrete floor and yelped.

The noise was loud enough to wake Lavi again, and this time Lavi actually yelled in surprise at something. Esperanza narrowed her eyes at him, and Bookman could see if she was wondering if it was her he'd been startled by. Lavi recovered rather quickly though as he said, "Sorry, I... thought... saw someone..." He pointed beyond Esperanza and sat up. All of those in attendance helped him, even Esperanza (though tentatively). Darrin and Ricardo gave their best well wishes and greetings while Lavi pulled up the energy to smile.

"Now that everyone is awake, I believe I can begin speaking on our dilemma," Bookman said irately after all the pleasantries were out of the way. Lavi looked better, and his skin was a brighter hue. He didn't look nearly so ghastly, though he did have a very slight bluish tint to his lips that was a bit worrying. Nevertheless, Lavi was completely attentive, as was everyone else.

"The Noah attacked for a reason," Bookman began. "That reason is hard to define, however, because this was not an attack in the sense that they were after something. The obvious idea was that they wanted Darrin and that cylinder." He gestured, and Darrin raised the aforementioned item.

"They deliberately avoided Lavi in most of their attacks save for a few Akuma who couldn't help themselves. I noted that from up in the control room. None of them paid special attention to Darrin, which is odd as that was my initial idea for a motive. Also, I do not believe that they had meant to kill Lavi or harm him. That spear was a last minute throw-in, if you'll pardon the pun -" Lavi lifted a hand to show no offense was given, chuckling painfully. "- and that means they were after something else."

Here, Bookman paused. He drummed his fingers on his chair's arm, thinking. There was more information than that, but only Bookmen paid attention. He'd lose them if he stated every iota pertaining to his theory.

"I think the Noah only want us to get moving, and they need Lavi or me to do the legwork. They mean for us to find this artifact for them because they know we will attempt to intercept them. That means, we must move under their noses," Bookman finally stated. The three looked at each other with drawn looks of skepticism. Bookman knew the evidence, at first blush, seemed scanty, but everything pointed to it. Lulu Bell hadn't tortured Lavi for information, not truly. Rather, she'd wanted to see how much he knew, if he even knew anything, and how long it would take to break him. It didn't help that Lulu was quietly sadistic. There was a reason she'd chosen Mr. Naso (a man that Bookman had dealings with himself and had seen of his handiwork in the past); he could keep people alive while intimidating them painfully. Lavi had recovered in those days after being beaten and burned because those beatings and burns were meant to maximize pain rather than damage. Explaining this to Esperanza later over the phone had been difficult, and it was at that time that Bookman realized that something was really at work.

"How do we do that? I reck'n these Noah fellers ain't pushovers. Heck, they almost found me, and I'm sneakier'n a rat in the corn shed," Darrin said, leaning back in his chair with a creak.

"Solo si tu no has bebido una botella de tequila primer," Esperanza muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. Darrin gave her a dirty look.

"Focus," Lavi grumbled impatiently, and the two quit their momentary bickering.

Bookman nodded to his apprentice, and he continued, "I propose we head off on our next mission to Guatemala right away, as soon as Lavi is healed enough to move. Esperanza and I have already discussed travel agreements, and she says that she has friends of her mother's who can lead us along the Andean roads to Guatemala. Most of them are lesser used tracks, and we'll journey under the guise of a merchant family selling cloth up north. When we reach Colombia we'll get a brand new set of guides, but we'll still keep our pretenses. The Noah are crafty, and we have to be craftier. In the meantime, we'll figure that out." Bookman pointed to the cylinder in Darrin's hands, and Darrin shrugged its strap around his shoulders.

"When do you think we'll leave exactly?" Ricardo asked, curious. Bookman knew he was actually assigned to the trip as a researcher in Akuma oil and virus production on Bookman's request. Ricardo was horrible in a fight, but he had a keen mind and an even better heart. He would do well for Lavi and keep his mind occupied.

"Perhaps in the next week," Bookman estimated, and Lavi lurched forwards in surprise.

"A week! Are you trying to kill me?" Lavi despaired with a comical crack to his voice, and Bookman shook his head at his apprentice's theatrics.

"Well, tell the world, why don't you?" Bookman grumbled. "Yes. A week at the least. Now, no fussing. The rest of you - keep this to yourselves. The Noah have eyes and ears in the walls and the floor. Trust no one with this information. We need to be the only ones who are aware." The four nodded solemnly. With that, life began to turn somewhat back to normalcy almost immediately.

"Which means no liquor for you, Loose Lips," Esperanza said, looking pointedly at Darrin. The other man bristled.

"Hey, I ain't the one who talks in m'sleep about dear old Laaaaaaviiiiii." At the mention of his name, the apprentice raised both eyebrows at a darkening Esperanza.

"Mentes descaradamente."

"Lavi and 'Speranza, sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s -" That's as far as he got before Esperanza punched him dead in the face.

Ah, the normality.

Lavi stood in front of the mirror, staring. He watched his reflection as if it could tell him something, anything, about himself, about his condition, about some small inkling that was the root of all his problems. Of course, his reflection remained mum, and for that Lavi was grateful. To have his reflection talk back to him was to shun all mirrors for as long as he lived - Lavi wasn't sure just how much more he could take of the hallucinations, the random visitations, and the seething paranoia he'd been trying to bottle up. Now that Doug was part of his mind's arsenal of torture, he was always on his guard to ignore any of his appearances lest he encourage the apparition's intrusions. His bouts of memories had grown less, but his paranoia that he may slip into a memory had grown more. Thankfully his Bookman self had yet to make an actual appearance again, and Lavi took that as a sign of the truce between them - if one could have a truce with one's self.

His eyes took in his form, noting the changes. Unlike most people, Lavi could see the distinct differences in his own body from month to month, year to year. Bookman had once had him practice his capture of memories by having him stand in front of a mirror for five minutes and then having him do the same thing the next month before asking him what was different in each. He'd gotten very good at it, and what he saw now disturbed him.

He was half-clothed, naked from the waist up. A puckered, disgusting mass of stitched flesh ran down the right side of his sternum, skin bunched around tight stitches. He winced at it, realizing it would make for a very, very ugly scar to add to his large collection. His fingers lightly hovered over it before straying to his ribs. Each one stuck out, the bone visible beneath the skin. Even the pad of muscle around his rib cage could not hide the emaciated status of his body. If he had two mallets, he imagined he could use his ribs as a xylophone and become a human instrument. He chuckled at the idea but instantly regretted the action as his chest pulled and stung. His eye wandered to his neck and collarbone, noting how pronounced his clavicle was against the skin. His skin itself was pale, almost as pale as paper. Finally, his eye traced to his face. A hollow sunken eye staring out from shadow, his cheekbones defined against the landscape of skin, a thin nose, bluish lips, long red hair that was in need of a trim. His eyepatch was the only thing that had not changed.

There was a knock on the door, and Lavi turned around stiffly. Esperanza stood in the doorway, eyes averted to the ground, new Innocence already over her person. Lavi realized that their... understanding was still in effect. It always seemed that they had a buffer somewhere, though, either in the form of Darrin, or Ricardo, or Bookman, to help them keep that agreement in check. Here, alone, it was so much harder to act as if they were strangers to one another. Both of them kept their faces secure in a detached expression, not revealing anything of the roiling, confused masses in their minds. Esperanza finally looked up, and Lavi's lips pressed into a firm line.

"Yes?" he asked. From behind her, he could just glimpse Doug. His stomach flipped, and Lavi tried to push away the fear. During his impromptu surgery, Doug had been overseeing everything, looking down at Lavi in the midst of his utmost agony. His mind had not forgotten that association, and phantom pains lanced through his chest where his new sewn heart ached in the most literal way possible.

"Bookman sent me with something. He is still busy with arrangements for our departure," Esperanza said, her tone noncommittal. From her pants pocket, she pulled a small vial stoppered with a cork. Lavi frowned as he looked at the pills inside. She held it out to him, not daring to enter the bathroom as if she were a country unwilling to enter another's domain for fear of suggesting invasion. Lavi slowly walked over, carefully placing one foot ahead of the other. He was still shaky. It had only been four days. He'd just managed to walk again the day before, and he accomplished it with much difficulty. Still, it'd been at his behest that he get better quickly in order to continue their mission.

He took the vial from her, almost brushing her fingers, and in that moment the two locked eyes. Both recoiled ever so slightly from the near-touch as if each had been shocked in some way. Esperanza straightened in a stiff manner, coughing into her hand politely.

"Bookman told me they were... experimental and that he would tell you more about them later. For now, he says to take only one a day. They are to help with the..." Esperanza tapped her temple in allusion to his disposition. Lavi gave a polite smile, and he nodded. For a moment it seemed he would part ways with her without incident, but something stopped him. With her back turned, Lavi tried to put a finger on what was bothering him, and he suddenly said, "Wait!" Esperanza halted in her tracks.

In her first bout of wit in God knew how long, she said, "The last time you told me to wait, we were drunk and you kissed me. Are we about to have a repeat performance?" Lavi rolled his eye. He should've expected her to say something like that. He sighed, going over what he wanted to say in his head.

Finally, he said, "Thank you." Esperanza narrowed her eyes, looking wary. Lavi bit his lip as he looked off, feeling awkward.

"I... remember everything. Even the things I don't want to remember." Like you sticking your fingers in my chest cavity and closing shut an artery, he added as a mental side note. Esperanza relaxed a little, and she scratched the back of her head. Modestly, she shrugged.

"Es nada. Tu estas... mi amigo. I could have done no different. It is my duty as your partner," Esperanza answered quietly, scuffing the floor. Lavi watched as an expression flitted across her face.

"She feels guilty," Doug said suddenly, and Lavi threw his gaze towards him. He wanted to speak back, but he refrained, hesitating. Esperanza noted his hesitation, and she asked, "Amigo? Hay problema?" Lavi shook himself out of his reverie, but the phrase rung around in his head. Yeah... she had looked guilty about something. Feeling suspicious, Lavi shook his head.

"No. I just... wanted to tell you thank you. You've done a lot for me," he said, poking the topic again, analyzing her body stance and facial expression. Though she guarded her emotions and thoughts well, he could see it. Doug was right. She was looking away from him, and her eyes were drawn to a point to his left. Her stance was stiff and rigid. Something about this was giving her fits.

Could he trust her? What was the matter with her? He didn't like this.

"Amigo?" she asked suddenly, looking up. Blue eyes met green, but for some reason there didn't seem to be any connection. Lavi felt detached from her, and it appeared that she was the same from him.

"Yes?" Lavi answered back. Esperanza's expression stayed carefully indifferent. It was as if he were talking to an automaton. Momentarily, he was surprised. This was a higher level of defense than he'd ever seen. She was not just attempting to hide what she felt; if she was, he would be able to tell. Right now, she was turning off all of her emotions. He knew the trick himself, but he'd fallen out of practice. It wasn't something one could do for overly long periods of time unless one was trained... Which pulled up the question if maybe she was trained.

"I am not going with you on this trip. I am going to England, and I will not come back," Esperanza said, each word leaving her mouth deliberately. At first, it was quiet, and he felt absolutely nothing. The information had no worth, no connotation. However, it soon caught up to him, and he felt despair trickle in as he realized what was going on.

She was leaving. She was truly leaving. He was going to be alone. One of the few people who could understand and share his pain, gone to a far off place and leaving him here. Just like every other person in his life, she passing away like a spirit from a body.

Lavi felt himself shut down. He'd had too much of this emotional undulation. If she could play this game, so could he. Doug stared at the floor, almost looking disappointed.

"Why?" Lavi asked, feeling strangely hollow, as if someone had sucked his very essence from his body and deposited it in a far off place. Doug stared at him, shaking his head and mouthing 'no', but Lavi ignored him. Esperanza seemed to notice the difference in atmosphere, but her facial expression remained stone still.

"They want to study my Innocence, and I believe that I can find better tutelage in Europe. It is not safe for me to stay here with you. Tu es... inestable. Incontrolable. Informal. Habria estado a detrimento de tu si soy aqui. Mis disculpas, amigo, pero... tu es no bueno para me." Lavi blocked out each sting to his character. She had used the 'ser' verb, meaning that these things... they were inherent to his nature. It was a blow to his very character, not to mention the dig about his teaching and his mental state.

"My apologies, friend, but... you are no good for me." Lavi took all of this in carefully, cataloging this encounter with minute detail, remembering every moment and every facet of this conversation. Still, he wondered what was the cause of this. Why was she being so harsh? How could she be so insensitive?

"She's not done yet," Doug whispered quietly.

"So that's it? That's all you need to tell me?" Lavi asked, his tone sparking with indignation. Esperanza's mask slipped for a moment, but it was too fast a flash for him to tell what lay behind. She suddenly became steely, and she said, "No. That isn't. I could've saved you your heartbreak now and your mental decline later. I should've known better than to take a chance on you at Bookman's behest. It was beyond my skill level. He said to get close, close enough to see in your head. I did not expect you to become close in kind."

Lavi's eyes widened as the pieces began to fall together. The entire time... she had been working for Bookman. She'd been his nanny. She wasn't a student - she was a spy. She'd been watching him this entire time just for Bookman's sake. That meant... that everything she'd done, every minute of time they'd spent together had been carefully orchestrated.

The long nights on the phone suddenly came back to Lavi. He'd assumed she'd been speaking to family or the Order for instructions. In a way, she had been doing the latter, just not in a way that had ever occurred to him. Had... everything been a lie? Surely not... Not those trips to the pasta place, not the ice cream, not the near death they'd suffered, none of that...

"None of it was real?" he asked, quietly. Doug was curled up in a corner, watching the proceedings with wide, blue eyes. Esperanza had already begun to leave, her back turned to him. She stopped midstep, looking back over her shoulder from the corner of her eye. She deliberated... and then said, "My family is real. My story is real. My name and my face is real. But that was all. It would do best for you to forget this, if you can. Adios, mi amigo falso. Espero que Destino va a ser mas amable a te. Lo vas a necesitar."

"That doesn't make sense. How could you keep up a pretense for nearly four months?" Lavi asked, accusingly. It wasn't that it was impossible. Lavi knew how to live a lie. Not everyone could do it, especially one so rigid as Esperanza. She seemed so constant. To know that she could just change out of nowhere...

"You do not believe? Fine," she sighed. Esperanza turned to stare, and for a moment it was as if Lavi didn't even recognize her. In that moment, the usual expression of neutrality she had on her face was replaced by one of cruel emptiness, a strange blankness.

"I could walk into a school with my sister, convince them that I wanted to enroll her, and plant a bomb right under their noses, mi amigo. I did it nearly seven times. I can convince a man I have gone mad; it's how I stayed alive in prison. I can kiss and act like I love a person; that was how I could get to my targets. I can become enraged and create diversions, I can become stoic and not shed a tear, I can smile and be a good girl, I can despair over a body like a victim even if I am the murderer. It is not hard to fool people. Most are blind, as you know," she said placidly.

Lavi was speechless, feeling oddly calm. His heart beat regularly, and he was not slicked with sweat. He was not shivering. He was completely still, mulling all of this over. He had truly missed everything. Every cue, every sign that she'd been anything but the woman he'd traveled with for almost half a year, he'd missed all of them. He had had a second of doubt, and in that moment he'd actually felt bad about it. For a moment, he tried to review all the memories he had, take in every inkling and try to see the cracks, but he soon realized that it was no use caring about it - regardless, she'd be gone, and he'd never see her again. If what she said was true, she was not worth remembering. If she lied, she'd be out of his hair anyways. He would wash his hands of her in either fashion.

"I guess this is good bye, then," Lavi said, feeling like he'd been numbed to his core. Esperanza, for a moment, let her gaze tighten, and he thought that for a moment she looked sad. He dismissed that thought, retreating inside of himself. He could feel a melding of his mind, as if an understanding had been struck between himself and his Bookman self. The blow was hard, but that blow was like a welding torch, solidifying Lavi's resentment into cynicism.

Esperanza stared back, her face a sheet of clean, white paper. "I guess. Good bye."

She walked out the door with a calm walk, taking her time as Lavi watched her go. She never looked back.

A/N: Aaaagh! It's almost been a month since I've last posted a chapter! Man, this year's been crazy. You'd think that towards the end of the year things would slow down. I feel like I've barely had time to catch my breath! Anyhow, here's the latest installment, and I hope you've enjoyed it. I know it's not as suspenseful as you guys would've liked it, but everything is, of course, integral to the plot. Mostly. It should be moving along after this week fairly quickly, but that depends on how God will dictate my time.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to aoraki (formerly IQ84), PrevalentMasters, and bellaXmonster for reviewing! Ah, I love getting reviews, and seeing just how much people love this story and how to make it better. That is, after all, my top priority - making this story the best it can be with every chapter.

That also means I thank my favoriteers for sticking their necks out by putting this on their favorites tab. Big kudos and love to bellaXmonster there!

So much thanks to aoraki for adding me to your subscribe list! Now you won't have to go and dig for this poor thing, haha.

And, of course, your favorite part, right? The discussion questions! Did Esperanza's association with Bookman come as a shock? Why or why not? At least four Exorcists are needed for their current mission; who should go? Lavi's mental health has been on the decline - how do you expect him to react to Esperanza's departure? Now for something new; give a theme song for characters in the story! How in character has this section been? Are there any characters that you would like to see again? Are there any devices within the story that seem hackneyed or tired? After all the fight scenes, is this a good change of pace?

And that's it for now! God bless you, and happy reading.