Story : At the End of the Alley

Date : French version published the 21 of december 2018 as a gift for Hana for the SLG2018. English version published the first of October 2019 for my usual October Fanfic Month. Completely re-translated it 10th of October 2023.

Fandom : D Gray Man, somwhere in the 3 month gap of Allen runaway from the Order.

Disclaimer : I don't own D Gray Man, wich go to the wonderfull Katsura Hoshino and I don't make money with my fic

Image cover : For once, it's not one of my drawings, but one of Piamo's, who kindly let me use it! Check out their great drawings on tumblr!

Well, here it is ! A one-shot I made for Hana last year for our Secret Lero Gift :3 I translate it for my usual October Fanfic Month, (which mean a lot of fic updated all around october and readers fanart for other readers to see) I had to make a crack-fic about Allen, Wisely and Thimothy (bonus point for Miranda)

Like you are going to see, it didn't turn up that much of a crack fic but well... i hope you'll like it :D

Enjoy your Reading !

At the End of the Alley

The hardest part, Timothy thought, was probably the idiots who followed them everywhere.

When he joined the Order, Timothy had had a few blessed months of laughter, training with friends and cool missions before everything went to hell. Before that, the missions were supervised by super Trackers. Lenalee said he was assigned the most experienced and coolest because he was the youngest. Lavi always complained that it was cheating, but Timothy thought it was quite clever. But now...

Now he was assigned the most loyal.

That would have been fine, if the trackers in question were loyal to Timothy. But no, little by little, all the trackers previously assigned to the exorcists had been reassigned one by one to information gathering. And to replace them, what better than Crows and Central's Trackers? So, yes, very loyal... but to Luberrier.

At first, Timothy didn't get it. Why couldn't Jean and Marguerite stay? Even Thomas, whom Komui had assigned to Timothy after Allen's... departure, had been replaced. Chaoji had been happy, he'd told Timothy that the Crows were the best bodyguards, that they were as strong as exorcists, that they would protect him when his master couldn't... But he wasn't happy, he'd seen what the Crows had done to Kanda, to Lenalee, to Allen...

And then Marie had explained it to him.

In a hushed whisper, when they were watching a training match, he had told him that they were there to keep an eye on him, to report his every move to the higher-ups.

Because, you see, it seemed that Timothy was a target. A piñata that the grand marshals enjoyed showing off in the streets. That's why he'd been on the road so much lately, bouncing from exorcist to other exorcist, never returning to headquarters. And why was that? It was Lenalee who had whispered the answer to him with clenched jaw and hard eyes. "Bait for Allen." She'd said, looking quickly over her shoulder. "Be careful, okay?" She had added with sad eyes before handing him over to Krory as she walked back to the headquarters.

Timothy thought that Lenalee would have been much better in this role and he found it hard to understand why Central hadn't chosen her. After all, she was practically Allen's sister. But apparently, Lenalee was too great a risk as bait. Even if they had the guarantee of Komui at headquarters, they would never allow Lenalee to get too far from England or France, ready to intervene at any moment. But Timothy? Timothy was a child, of course he was stupid and gullible and naive. It's not as if he was a soldier prepared to fight in a war and manipulate adults in a political game far too bloody. No, of course he wasn't. So they paraded him around, getting more and more frustrated when Allen didn't show up. And Timothy indulged them with a vicious grin. At first, when the other exorcists had explained to him what was going on, he'd thought about screaming, fighting, making a mess... but Emilia had begged him to stay calm and keep his head down. It was true that, despite his links with Allen, he had retained a lot of privileges that his comrades who defended the boy no longer had. Because Central knew that they had lost the other exorcists, so it was better to rule them by force and fear. But then again, Timothy was young and malleable, so if they spoiled him, he'd surely be more loyal to them than to this teenager he'd only known for a few weeks?

Ahah.

No.

So Timothy went along with it, following orders like a little puppy, gaining their trust, gradually getting his qualified Trackers back instead of the spies they'd assigned him. It was impossible to get rid of the Crows and he always had a few spies anyway, as they were attached to the other exorcists he was teaming up with. But he certainly wasn't going to complain, it was still better than before and the Crows were, in fact, really good bodyguards.

"Timothy." A soft voice suddenly called and he looked up from his pack of cards to see Miranda, his chaperone for the latest mission. "The train will be here soon, are you sure..." She began, her skin tight with worry, before biting her lower lip and pausing, her gaze darting to the window to see if anyone was watching them discreetly. Lavi always did this, he'd shown them the trick before. But he'd never used it against the Trackers...

Timothy didn't need to hear the rest to understand what she was talking about, and he nodded firmly as a Crow knocked on the door of the first-class cabin. Not interested in the conversation, Timothy rested his head against the glass, watching the landscape gloomily behind the window.

They had just returned from a mission to search for Innocence. A high concentration of akuma had been spotted in a southern town and after Choji and Krory had destroyed them, thinking it was just one of those nodes that have been popping up more and more lately, they had discovered a cave. It had collapsed and Chaoji's super-strength was more likely to make the situation worse than anything else, so the two male exorcists had been sent further west while Miranda and Timothy took their place. Master Kloud, who had been with them, Miranda being more of a defender and he only an apprentice, had had to leave them there to set off for another knot of akumas. Miranda had been worried, even with the Crows, who was to say that Noahs or new akumas wouldn't turn up? But then again, it's not as if they had a single choice in this war and they'd followed orders. With Miranda's innocence, they had been able to enter the cave, crushed by the expectations of the higher-ups who were salivating at the possible discovery of a long-awaited new innocence and... nothing.

The cave was empty, and they had come away empty-handed except for a few extra scratches from some unexpected akumas that Timothy had been very proud to take out unaided. Not that the Ravens would have helped him anyway. They may have been bodyguards, but they certainly weren't caretakers... As long as he wasn't in danger of death or serious injury, they usually left him to fend for himself. So now Miranda, he and the rest were on a train bound for the rendezvous point with his master. They would arrive in the early afternoon, at least four hours before Klaud, and Timothy couldn't wait.

He had a plan: he was going to explore.

Since his new guardians were keeping track of him, he wasn't allowed to dawdle in the city. If he wasn't destroying akumas, he was on the train, in his room or training. Long walks in town were outlawed, as was buying souvenir gifts or sweets and toys: the only thing that mattered was destroying akumas. So, as a growing nine-year-old boy in dire need of distraction, he spontaneously decided to give his guards the slip. He had a lot more freedom now, he was sure he could do it and that the consequences wouldn't be as horrible as they had been a few weeks ago. He could do it.

Suffice to say, Miranda was terrified.

But she wouldn't stop him. Of course not, her lips were always curled in disapproval when Timothy was given a new assignment. In fact, he knew that she would do her best to divert attention from him at worst and accompany him at best. He didn't mind, he liked Miranda. He'd had a bit of trouble at first, with her apologising at the drop of a hat, but as the weeks went by, she seemed more at ease with him and behaved more 'normally'. What's more, she had that little something that neither Emilia nor Lenalee had. Something he couldn't define, but it was like... It was like having a mum.

Shaking his head to get these ideas out of his head (Timothy was almost ten, he had never had and certainly didn't need a mother now in the middle of a war. Big sisters were good enough) he calmly followed the trackers off the train, Miranda close on his heels. The two ravens that had always accompanied him and Miranda surrounded them on all sides, securing and monitoring their every move. It's all right, Timothy thought, he just needed a distraction, a tiny little distraction and...

There!

Suddenly, barely ten minutes' walk later, a group of Akuma took off their skins and attacked them mercilessly. Exchanging glances with Miranda, Timothy left his body in charge of Tsukikami and threw himself into the fight with a cheerful smile. It was perfect, the akumas were at Timothy's level, just second level, but as they were in the middle of the city, the Trackers and Ravens were more concerned with looking after the civilians than him. With a thought, he let Tsukikami move his body as far away from the fight as possible and concentrated on his opponents, deliberately allowing himself to be overrun and taken into the winding alleys, unluckily losing sight of his guards.

Within a few minutes it was over, and despite the terrible fear of passers-by, there were no fatalities, not even a seriously injured person or a collapsed house. It certainly helped Timothy's guilt to have dragged out this fight...

Regaining his body with a spring in his step, Timothy hastily tore off his exorcist's coat and turned it inside out so that it was now just a black jacket and not the distinctive exorcist's coat. Praising Johnny for making him such a handy jacket, Timothy pulled a loose cap from his inside pocket and screwed it onto his head so that not a single one of the startling green strands could find its way out into the open. Then, untying the scarf he had slipped on instead of a belt, he tied it around his neck, effectively hiding his features and becoming a boy quite indistinguishable from the other street urchins. His belongings were with the trackers (another way, he suspected, of preventing him from escaping) so he couldn't be recognised by his equipment, and his upturned coat ensured that neither the trackers, nor the akumas, nor the Crows, nor anything else potentially harmful to him could find him. Only Miranda, who knew his plan and his hidden affairs, would pay any attention to a boy dressed in black with a green scarf. Whether she managed to reach him or not was no longer Timothy's concern, no, he was going to have fun.

And that's what he did.

Eyes sparkling with joy and cheeks full of candy, he gambolled for hours in the streets of the city, enjoying the street entertainment and spending his pocket money lavishly. It's not like he could use it another time anyway, so he might as well treat himself, right? Lips sticky with sweet sugar, Timothy soon took a break in a small, sunny square. He had already visited the city zoo, admiring the lions he had not yet been able to see in real life despite his travels, and then he had gone to eat at a small bistro, savouring the greasy food that his strict diet did not usually allow him to eat. Then he'd done a bit of window-shopping, buying a pretty glass statuette that he was sure Emilia would love. After that, he had taken care of something more important, the real reason for his elopement, which he really should have done earlier, just in case, but which he really hadn't had the heart to do: send letters. This simple action was absolutely forbidden for exorcists and very limited for trackers. You know, so as not to create more akumas. Or so they said, but Komui had hinted that it was to better control the masses. After all, with no links other than the Order, where would one go if the urge arose to flee? As the saying goes, it's easier to face the devil you know than the one you don't. So, taking advantage of this rare unguarded moment, Timothy took out the letters he always kept carefully rolled up under his T-shirt and posted them quickly. He hoped they would arrive safely...

And now here he was, sitting in this little square, watching the people walk the cobblestones, the artists liven up the streets, the children playing...

Finally finishing his treat, Timothy licked his fingers, wondering if he shouldn't go back now. It must have been at least four hours, if not more, since the fight, and even though he had migrated to the other side of the city, he had already come across two Order patrols looking for him. Besides, his master wouldn't be long now and she would be far less comprehensive than Miranda. Yes, he'd better go back. A dark grimace taking place on his face, Timothy shot at a pebble in a bad mood, flinching in surprise when it crashed into the leg of a teenager, drawing out a very nasty word that Emilia would never have allowed to pass his lips.

"Allen?!" he choked out as he caught sight of the teenager's fair hair in front of him. He was up against a building in the square, hidden behind a small, excited crowd, watching a street performer deftly juggling six sharp knives. It was a pious dream, a simple misunderstanding that really didn't matter now that he was watching the stranger more closely, but he hadn't been able to stop the hope of getting him to talk.

"What?" The shocked teenager hiccupped, holding his leg where the pebble had hit him hard. But Timothy was already no longer looking at him, suddenly drawn to his left where the artist had fallen at his scream. "Shit!" He swore, rolling to the side hastily to avoid the six daggers that were now flying at him due to gravity. Fortunately, half-stumbling, the man managed to avoid them all, much to the relief of the worried crowd, bringing him in the same rush practically to the feet of Timothy and the light-haired teenager, still crouched against the wall.

"Are you alri-..." Timothy began to say as he took two steps towards the artist, feeling guilty for almost hurting him with his loud shout. But the boy cut himself off immediately, staring at the man with wide surprised eyes, his irises fixed on the wig that had half fallen off in his roll.

"What the..." Murmured the artist, his face just as shocked, alternating a glance between Timothy and the blond teenager who seemed just as lost as they were.

However, neither Timothy nor... the artist, could say anything, because barely a second later, the blond teenager grabbed them by their wrists, causing them to slide precipitously into a nearby alleyway.

Recovering from his shock, it was at this point that Timothy began trying to free himself from the grip, panicked by all that was happening.

"Don't move!" the blond teenager suddenly hissed at Timothy, who immediately froze under the harsh tone. The teenager dragged them to the back of the alley, his companion completely apathetic, then let go of them. "The Order was right there!" He said suddenly with a frustrated sigh. "You stay here while I go and get your things. And not a sound!" He said quickly before turning around and disappearing just as quickly, leaving the other two boys completely bewildered.

Suddenly very shy, Timothy turned slowly towards his companion, opening his mouth then closing it without being able to let out a word. Then, swallowing hard, he finally let out the name he had been desperate to say ever since he met the artist's gaze. "Allen?" he whispered, and the other boy flinched, his eyes wide and fixed on the boy's.

"Timothy ..." he whispered just before a sobbing package crashed into his arms.

"Allen!" cried the green-haired exorcist, his whimpers thankfully largely muffled by the older boy's jacket. His body shaking with heavy sobs, the little boy felt two arms slide gently around his shoulders, as if hesitating, but finally they settled and a second later the older teenager was squeezing him with all his strength, not wanting to let go.

It was impossible to say how long they stayed like that, clinging to each other as if they were afraid the other boy would disappear, but at one point Allen broke free of the embrace, his hands on Timothy's shoulders and a serious look on his face.

"What are you doing here? You can't stay here! I've seen Order patrols all day and there was a big group of akuma earlier and then the Noah's-..." began Allen in a quick whisper.

"Noah?" Squeaked the little boy.

"Yes, Noah." Said a new voice calmly, and the two exorcists flinched, flipping towards the blond teenager who had taken advantage of their hug to return.

"Here." He said, holding out a large shoulder bag towards Allen, one of the knives he'd been using earlier visible in the opening.

"Thanks..." Murmured the ex-exorcist as he slowly grabbed the bag, obviously not quite sure what to do. "And the Trackers, did you-..." He began suddenly as Timothy let out a worried moan.

"No, I just sent a couple of levels two to cause a bit of a ruckus near the station. They've been lured there, but the woman with the clock should be able to deal with them." Said the other as he shoved his hands into his pockets, rolling his eyes as he went.

"Miranda?" Allen asked with a look of relief, before glancing inquisitively at the younger exorcist. "Miranda's with you?"

"Yes." Murmured the younger boy, his eyes still fixed on the third teenager in front of them. "Are you really a Noah?" He asked, his voice morbidly curious. For only answer, the Noah let his skin turn grey with an overly wide grin and Timothy clearly flinched, not ready for this. "Why is he here?" the boy asked without taking his eyes off the Noah.

But it wasn't Allen who answered. "I'm watching him." The Noah replied. "There's always someone to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. It's not always me though, ah and, Wisely, by the way." He said as he held out his hand, but Timothy made no move to take it and the Noah eventually let it rest at his side with an amused smile.

"There's always someone?" Allen said weakly and, obviously, he didn't seem to be aware of this fact.

"Mostly Tyki and me," nodded Wisely. "Him, because he knows you best and me because I can assess your mental condition... thoroughly. But don't worry, we come to see you regularly, but more often than not, it's the Akumas who keep an eye on you."

"But why?" Timothy asked, and he honestly looked lost as Allen tensed beside him, jaw clenched and hands shaking.

"Well, to check that he is fine, obviously. How else can we intervene in case Neah takes over? Besides, it's better to be around when Apoc-..." He started to say, but Allen suddenly took a step forward, pulling Timothy behind him in a single movement, ordering him to be quiet in a harsh voice. "Oh?" exclaimed Wisely in surprise before an amused smile spread across his lips. "You didn't say anything to them? At all? Ah, I see, he threatened them, obviously..."

"Get out of my head!" Allen almost growled, jaw clenched and fist raised, though he didn't make a move in Wisely's direction.

"Allen!" fussed Timothy, trying to push Allen's arm away so he could see the Noah again.

"No, of course not." Said the Noah, as if responding to something Allen had said and the teen startled, his eyes opening wide before they narrowed in anger.

"I said... get out of my head!" shouted the boy, startling Timothy. But that wasn't all, as he shouted, Allen's skin suddenly took on a greyish hue, reflecting that of the Noah in front of him, and his eyes flashed gold.

"Allen...?" Tsukikami's wearer asked timidly, his heart pounding with fear.

For only answer, the teenager groaned in pain, his hands letting go of Timothy to clutch at his hair as he stumbled backwards a few steps until he hit the wall and slid to the floor. With his hands still on his head, so tight that Timothy was afraid he was going to pull his hair out in fistfuls, Allen drew his knees up against his chest, shrinking into a ball. His skin was turning visibly grey now and the dark energy was so suffocating it was palpable, surrounding Allen like a cloak. Even more withdrawn, the teenager was muttering a litany of words that Timothy couldn't understand. It was so rapid that it took him several repetitions to deduce a sentence.

"...en Walker, exorcist for the Black Order, my friends are also exorcists, I love Mitarashi Dango and dogs, I hate debt and the circus. I'm Allen Walker, exorci-..."

"Allen?" asked Timothy his voice trembling as he stumbled in the older man's direction, but he didn't even seem to notice.

Allen gasped, his body shaking "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine..." the ex-exorcist muttered madly.

"All-..." He continued a little louder, this time reaching out to touch him, but before he could, fingers dug into his hood, quickly pulling him back.

"Don't distract him!" Noah muttered as he quickly pushed Timothy behind him, still with one hand on his wrist and the other on his own head.

"What are you doing?!" accused the little boy, his legs shaking, completely terrified.

"Shut up! I'm trying to help him and he-..." Noah muttered, opening his eyes for a second. But that single spark of distraction must have been enough to disorientate him, because Allen immediately let out a pained scream and fell to the ground, his hair suddenly curling. Less than a second later, shafts of black matter opened up all around them and eerie whispers came from them, chilling the blood of the youngest exorcist.

"14th! I feel the 14th!"

"He's here, he's here!"

"Master Noah!"

Trembling with his whole body, Timothy reversed his grip, it was he, now, who was squeezing Wisely's hand rather than the other way round. But the Noah didn't even notice, his eyes squinting in concentration, he seemed to be having a mental conversation with the akumas, the monsters having frozen all around Allen to stare at the Noah of Wisdom.

"But Master Noah!" Moaned one of the pitiful creatures.

"Be gone. Now!" Replied the pale-haired teenager in a voice that did not allow for discussion. Much too slowly for Timothy's liking, the akumas disappeared one by one, leaving a panting Allen at their centre. But still, the little boy couldn't move, petrified behind the Noah, staring at his fellow exorcist.

One more laboured breath and a whisper familiar to all exorcists passed the blandin's lips: "Innocence... activation." As if it were a difficult action, innocence took its time arriving, metamorphosing Allen's body so gently that Timothy could see the transformation taking place rather than the usual flash of white light that hid the whole thing.

At last the white coat covered Allen and Timothy could see the grey fading from his hand. Soon a healthy, if not slightly pale, colour returned to his sweaty skin and the tremors in his body subsided, leaving him panting on the floor. With difficulty, he pushed himself to sit up and it was only then that Timothy noticed that Wisely was no longer holding him back. Immediately, he ran to his elder, dropping to his knees in front of him to hug him carefully.

"It's all right." The child said with iron confidence. His voice was so sure that Timothy almost convinced himself it was true.

But Allen didn't let himself go this time. He barely allowed his breath to come in and out before he raised to his feet, one hand on the wall, the other on Timothy to keep his wobbly legs from giving out.

"I didn't think he was that close to the surface." Said Wisely suddenly, still a few steps away. "But it was always silly of me to push so hard." He didn't look sorry, just uncomfortable, as if he'd miscalculated and that was what was bothering him.

Allen said nothing, just nodded to show that he had heard. He didn't seem to expect anything from the Noah in front of him and this finally provoked a reaction from Wisely. Timothy didn't know what Allen had been thinking, but the Noah of wisdom took a step backwards, his eyes wide and his eyebrows tilted. He looked like he'd been slapped. "I'm sor-..." he began, but Allen cut him off mid-sentence.

"Thank you for protecting Timothy." He murmured in an emotionless voice before turning slightly to the younger man, yet not letting his guard down. "I'm glad to see you're okay, but you need to get back to Miranda now."

"What? No !" Cried the little green-haired boy, clutching at the blandin's jacket as if afraid he might vanish. "I want to go with you! I was able to help you earlier, you might need me again, please Allen, I ca-..."

"You can't!" Replied the other in a pained voice as he ran his hand through the little boy's crazy curls. "It's dangerous to be with me! You just saw it, the Order, the Noahs, the akumas, Apo-... I mean... everyone's following my trail. I'm… I'm barely able to take care of myself, I can't protect you from them."

"Even more, then! You need somebody watching your back, you won't have to protect me! Besides, from what? I know how to avoid Trackers and fight akumas and... Noahs? That guy's been watching us argue for ten minutes and even helped you!" He said as he pointed at Wisely, causing the Noah to flinch in surprise at his sudden addition to the conversation.

"Yes, well, traitor or not, he's still part of the family and the Earl would be terribly sad if anything happened to him, so for now..." Noah replied with a shrug. "But he's right, you know, it's not really us that's the problem, although I imagine the surveillance certainly adds stress, no, it's Apocr-..." He began but was quickly silenced by a violent "Shut up!" From Allen.

"Who is it!?" Timothy practically groaned.

"No one you need to... argh!" Allen suddenly hissed as his left hand burst into white feathers. "No, no, no, not now!" He huffed in dismay as he clutched his mutating limb.

"Speak of the devil..." Wisely muttered, earning a death glare from the ex-exorcist before he focused his gaze on Timothy, his face turning white with fear.

"He can't see you here, if he knows you were with me..." muttered Allen to himself as Timothy became increasingly annoyed that the other two were evading his questions. Suddenly Allen turned to Wisely, his eyes hard and his jaw clenched, but before he could say anything the Noah nodded.

"I'll take care of it. To make up for my mistake earlier." He said and Allen nodded with silent thanks before dropping his arm of innocence to rest his other hand on Thimothy's shoulder. "Be careful okay? I... hope we see each other again soon, don't tell anyone you saw me... the walls have ears, as Lavi would say." And with that, Allen walked past them without a glance and ran out of the alley.

"What? Allen!" shouted the Tsukikami holder as soon as he could shake off his shock. Before he could run after the ex-exorcist, however, the Noah grabbed him by the shoulder, holding him back. "Let me go!"

"Don't move, you'll put him in danger." He said calmly and immediately the boy froze, "Come on, you need to get back with the Order as soon as possible, especially if he's around." And with his hand still on his shoulder, the Noah began to guide him out of the alley and then direct him at a safe pace without Timothy really knowing where.

Even with his ear to the ground, Timothy couldn't hear any sounds of combat and he wondered whether this was good news... or not. Wisely, who was probably reading his mind, took the time to tell him that Allen had already fled the city and managed to expand the gap with him.

Finally, at last, they arrived at the station and Timothy could see two Trackers waiting in the distance with Miranda. His master should be here any minute now; they had to be there for her while the others were still looking for him. Swallowing hard as he thought of the trouble that was sure to come his way, Timothy pushed it all into the back of his mind as he turned to the Noah. He was... confused and really didn't know what to make of this encounter.

"As promised, delivered safely." Said the other quietly. "But it was a one-off ticket only. Don't cross my path again, who knows what orders I might have regarding you?" He added with a dark smile before turning quickly and disappearing before Timothy could even decide whether he should ask him the bunch of questions that were burning his tongue or not.

Maybe that was why he'd left so quickly.

Shaking his head in the hope of getting his thoughts in order, Timothy began to dress himself properly as an exorcist. He would take Allen's advice to heart and tell no one, unless he was sure they were completely alone and with people they could trust. It was going to be difficult though, no doubt his little stunt was going to cost him a lot in terms of privileges... too expensive? No, no, certainly not. He had been able to see Allen and learn more about what had happened. And about him too. Moving towards his Black Order comrades, Timothy forced a sheepish smile onto his lips as he continued to plan.

He would find out who "he" was.

And protect Allen.

Soooo, my subject was "a crack-fic with Miranda, Timothy, Allen and Wisely" Don't ask me why it turned into a drama halfway through... I still had hope when Allen appeared! I thought, come on, no more Angst, let's do something to put us in a good mood! Aaand... no. I tried? 1/2, let's say it's not bad…

Think about letting a review on your way out ! See yah !