A Game of Poker, Chapter 16: Traitor
Title: A Game of Poker
Author: Bookkbaby
Rating: Teen
Warnings: YAOI
Summary: LUCKY Pair. It started as a simple game of poker, but a little white lie from Lavi changes everything. ['If you lose... you spend the night here, with me, and let me do whatever I want with you.']
A/N: This is my first multichapter fanfic for the DGM fandom! Yay! I’m fairly new to the fandom, but hopefully I haven’t made any unforgivable mistakes.
Warnings: YAOI, which means BOYS LOVING BOYS. If you dislike that, then the back button is easy enough to find. Please click that and leave. Limes are in the future, and lemons in the uncut versions (not on fanfiction(dot)net). Maybe some OOC, spoilers for the end of the anime later on.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these lovely characters, that honor belongs to Katsura Hoshino. (Though if Hoshino-sama ever has a sale, I call dibs on Tyki… what?) I don’t own anything but a copy of the anime series and all volumes of the manga in English. Anything you don’t recognize (like the plotline of ‘A Game of Poker’) does belong to me. Everything else… not so much. Please don’t sue.
Super special awesome thanks to Misster Cackles, who is now my beta! All remaining mistakes are mine.
Last Time On ‘A Game Of Poker’:
Allen nodded, silver eyes flicking to Tyki for a moment, then back to Lavi before the parasitic-Innocence user turned back towards the door of what had been the Pleasure's prison. The Noah let his eyes slide shut as they walked towards the door, slowly drifting into unconsciousness once more.
And Now, The Continuation
A Game of Poker, Chapter 16
Traitor
Lenalee leaned against the wall, alternately glancing at the floor, the locked door that kept her from going to the Ark to find her friends, and Kanda. The Japanese swordsman was leaning on the wall a few feet away from her, arms folded as he glared at the wall opposite them.
She looked at the door again.
Lenalee had left her brother's office shortly after Kanda had, intending originally to go to her room, but she wanted to see if Lavi and Allen had returned. If they had, it would be by using the Ark and so she had made her way to the locked room of the Science Department. Kanda had already been there and hadn't given her more than a curt nod to show that he realized she was with him.
He was worried. The Japanese Exorcist wasn't one to show his emotions openly, but after knowing him for several years, Lenalee knew his cold attitude hid a heart warmer than Kanda would like. Most people in the Order - especially Finders - didn't know that Kanda could be very kind when he wanted to be. He was her defender whenever Leverrier came around, after all, since he knew how much the man terrified her.
Kanda hadn't moved much since she had arrived, only shifting his weight occasionally and stealing glances at the door before glaring at the far wall again.
"Waiting for them to come back?" she asked, voice loud in the otherwise silent hallway even though she tried to whisper.
"Che. Those idiots can go die for all I care. It would reduce the moron population." Kanda retorted. He didn't look at her and Lenalee smiled sadly.
"Me too," she replied, hearing the 'yes' the Japanese man would never say. The swordsman's scowl deepened in reply.
Line Break
Komui sat with his back against the wall in a dark hallway inside the Order Headquarters as he listened to his sister talking to Kanda. He had successfully escaped from Reever and the evil paperwork, but the information his precious Lenalee had delivered was worrisome. He had meant to just drop by the doors and make sure that they were truly locked before heading off to sleep - he was rather tired, having been slaving at his desk all day - but he couldn't simply leave Lenalee alone with a man late at night in a deserted hallway.
Even if it was Kanda.
He listened carefully to the two teens as they talked quietly - well, more like Lenalee talked and Kanda would grunt occasionally to show that he was listening. Komui's eyes felt so heavy. Shutting them for a moment wouldn't do any harm and he could still hear them without his eyes open.
He yawned quietly, unconsciously shifting against the wall to get comfortable as his eyes slid shut.
Line Break
"Cross Grave!"
Most of the Akuma rushing along the hall behind them had only seconds to cry out before the white crosses on their chests killed them in fiery explosions. The ones who hadn't gotten caught in the fearsome attack kept following, more joining the group with every intersection in the hallway as Allen and Lavi ran desperately back to the door to the Ark.
They were still a bit of a ways away, but it was all running straight from here on. The weight of the Noah was heavy on Lavi's back and his arms shook with exertion, but he refused to give up. He wished he had his usual bandana on, since it would have kept the sweat forming on his forehead from dripping into his eyes, but there was no helping it. He couldn't let go of one of Tyki's legs to wipe at his face with his sleeve - the unconscious Noah would fall right out of his grasp and hit the floor.
"Allen! You... all right?" he shouted in between pants after a particularly loud explosion nearly threw him off balance.
"Yes! Keep going!" Allen's voice sounded strained, but Lavi didn't dare turn around. The door was just ahead; he could practically see it now. The Brit's voice had sounded not too far behind him, so he was sure the white haired boy was holding his own.
He took a firmer grip on Tyki's legs and kept running. He could hear Allen call out 'Cross Grave' again, more loud explosions, then the sound of running footsteps. Lavi's body relaxed marginally at the sound, running faster and skidding to a stop as he reached the door to what had been Tyki's room. He shot a glance down the hallway and saw Allen running towards him, the light of an explosion quickly fading to nothing and several more Akuma rushing through the smoke.
Lavi turned back to the door. He couldn't use his hands to open the door, so he lifted a foot and used the combined weight of himself and the man he carried to kick the door open. It cracked under his first kick and buckled entirely under the second. The redhead rushed into the room as Allen reached the doorway. Lavi concentrated on ending the illusion that hid the Ark's entrance, stopping in the middle of the room and staring at where the door should appear.
In moments, it did. He turned back to look at the doorway, which Allen was defending with his back turned towards Lavi. The white haired boy clawed at one of the Akuma in front of him, scratching through the metal skin and causing the machine to explode.
"Allen!" Lavi called. The British boy turned to glance into the room, a tired smile breaking out over his face for a moment as he registered the door. Allen turned back to his opponents, crying out one last 'Cross Grave' and striking.
He had turned and begun moving towards the other Exorcist before the sound of the explosions had even faded. Together, they ran into the Ark, both momentarily blinded by the bright whiteness of the Ark's interior.
Even though he couldn't see, Allen could still feel. He blindly reached for the door handle and slammed the door shut, closing off the connection to the Millennium Earl's stronghold.
They were safe.
Both were breathing heavily, Allen covered in numerous small cuts from flying shrapnel, but they were both alive. Carefully, the redhead shifted the precious burden on his back, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. The Noah he carried moaned lightly in pain at the movement, but the sound only brought a somewhat relieved, somewhat guilty smile to Lavi's face. As long as the Pleasure could feel pain and make noise, it meant that the man was still alive.
"Let's get going." Lavi said, hearing the soft flap of wings as the Tease that had been clinging to the Noah flew up to rest in the Exorcist's hair. Allen nodded, a weary smile on his face as he fell into step next to his friend.
Line Break
Kanda glared at the wall as if he hated it simply for existing. Though he wasn't really seeing it, his thoughts focused entirely elsewhere, he kept his eyes on the wall. Staring at the door he had been standing next to for at least an hour, waiting for a white haired idiot and a redheaded moron to walk through, was just pathetic. Kanda Yuu was many things, but he was not pathetic.
Realizing his eyes had drifted to the locked door, he scowled and returned his glare to the wall. Glaring at the wall wasn't nearly as satisfying as glaring at a living creature - the brick refused to quail under his stare - but the only other 'living creature' here was Lenalee and glaring at her right now would be like kicking an injured kitten. Even Kanda wouldn't stoop so low.
The low sound of metal sliding over metal reached his ears. His eyes widened fractionally as he turned, gaze locking with Lenalee's for an instant before both Exorcist's turned towards the now-opening door. The Japanese man instinctively laid a hand on Mugen, ready to draw it if necessary as the door shuddered to a stop. Two figures stepped out of the previously locked room. One was moyashi-sized and shaped while the second seemed to have twice the normal number of limbs. As the figures stepped into the beams of moonlight illuminating the hallway, Kanda's eyes widened further and Lenalee gasped in shock as the identity of the figures was revealed.
The first, as the swordsman had expected, was Allen. The sight of the moyashi's slightly bruised and bloody but not seriously injured form caused an inexplicable wave of relief to crash through his blood. It was the second figure that made him narrow his eyes and unsheathe his Innocence.
The many limbed second figure was in fact two men, one being carried on the other's back. He knew the figure being carried well enough and didn't care to know any more; the man had almost killed him not too long ago. The man doing the carrying was unfamiliar to him. His hair was the same color as Lavi's, but the stupid rabbit's hair was several inches shorter. The man in front of Kanda also had some sort of ridiculous hair ornament that looked disturbingly like one of the butterfly golems the Noah riding on the redhead's back used to attack people. As if sensing Kanda's stare, the 'hair ornament' closed and then opened its wings. The swordsman's scowl deepened.
Half of the redheaded man's face was covered by a beard and a mustache and one of his eyes was a strange, ever changing cycle of colors that seemed to glow faintly in the dimness. Said eye was surrounded by burn scars.
Kanda leveled Mugen at the unknown (though somehow vaguely familiar) redhead and the Noah he carried. The man stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening in what seemed to be surprise rather than fear. Allen stopped as well, staring at the sword and swordsman uncomprehendingly.
"Who are you and why the hell did you bring a Noah here?" he demanded. Lenalee moved towards Allen, a relieved smile on her face as she gave the Japanese man and his weapon a wide berth. Kanda could see her glance at the redhead, a vaguely puzzled look on her face and then a slightly fearful one as she looked at the unconscious Noah on the man's back.
The redhead glanced from the sword to Allen, backing up a half-step.
"Allen? I don't think Yuu-chan recognizes me. A little help here?" The man seemed a bit desperate and impatient, shifting his weight from one foot to the other but careful not to jar the unconscious man he carried.
Kanda lowered Mugen, shocked. That was Lavi's voice. There was no mistaking it, but how was that even possible? His eyes narrowed as he sheathed Mugen once more, staring closely at the redhead's face.
"Lavi?" Lenalee asked, moving away from Allen to the supposed Bookman in training. She looked closely at his face, reaching up to move some of his hair. 'Lavi' allowed it, smiling weakly. The Chinese girl smiled in return, green eyes brightening with recognition.
"Looks like you didn't need help." Allen said, grinning a bit. Kanda scowled, eyes moving to the man on his friend's back.
"What happened?" Lenalee asked the rabbit, her hand moving to tug lightly on the older Exorcist's beard. "How did you-"
"Why the hell did you bring him here, you damn baka-usagi?" Kanda growled, not caring that he had interrupted. The three other Exorcists looked at him, two worried, one guarded and determined. "Why the hell is Tyki Mikk here?!"
The demand ended in a shout, causing Lenalee to flinch and Allen to wince, but Lavi met his eyes steadily and seemed completely unaffected by it. Kanda's glare intensified and the tension rose as Lenalee and Allen glanced from one to the other, both uncertain of what to say.
The standoff was broken by the sound of someone scrambling clumsily to their feet and hurried footsteps as that same 'someone' came around the corner. Kanda spun, hand going once more to Mugen before he recognized the figure.
Komui stood there, beret askew and white duster rumpled as he stared in shock at the group of five, particularly the Noah Lavi carried. There was only silence as the Supervisor took in the redhead's changed appearance and then lingered on Tyki Mikk once more.
"Tyki Mikk..." Komui said slowly, words heavy in the tense air. The beret-topped man shook his head, fixing his hat. "I'm sure there is a reasonable and perfectly logical explanation for why you brought a Noah into Exorcist headquarters late at night when everyone would be asleep without warning anyone and while using the Ark without permission-"
"There is." Allen and Lavi said together, voices firm. Komui, Lenalee, and Kanda stared at the pair in surprise; no one could remember the last time either had interrupted Komui, if either ever had. Allen as always so respectful and normally allowed others to finish their sentences. Lavi wasn't quite as polite as Allen, but still had a good degree of that same respect.
"He's not with the Millennium Earl anymore." Lavi added, sending another wave of shock through everyone but Allen. His voice grew a bit anxious and gained a touch of desperation. "He needs medical help, somewhere safe from the Earl... please?"
Komui stared in shock, seeing the normally bright, happy teen bow his head, eyes downcast.
"He... turned against them?" Komui breathed. The redhead hadn't betrayed them? Lavi and Allen had gone to rescue a Noah?
Kanda scoffed, drawing the attention of the others to him.
"You think he really betrayed them?" he asked coldly. Lavi glared back at him which, though surprising, only served to fuel the Japanese man's anger. "Do you honestly think that he betrayed the Earl and the other bloodthirsty bastards he calls 'family'?"
"He saved my life!" Lavi shot back, ending the swordsman's tirade and sending dead silence through the hall.
"He saved my life," Lavi repeated more quietly as his hands tightened their grip. "-and the Earl punished him for it."
Komui pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Lenalee, Kanda-kun," he began, the two named Exorcists looking at him - well, the swordsman's expression was on its default glare. "Help Lavi get Tyki Mikk to the infirmary and wake up the Head Nurse. She is to do what she can for the Noah and run a check up on Lavi’s injuries."
The redhead's face broke into a relieved grin while Lenalee nodded seriously.
"Che. The fucking rabbit can do it by himself." The swordsman spun on his heel and stomped away, footsteps echoing off the walls and then fading as the man walked out of sight.
The hammer-user watched his friend walk away, a pained but resigned expression on his face. Allen touched his shoulder encouragingly.
"He'll come around. Eventually, anyway."
Komui cleared his throat, drawing the attention back to him. He looked at the British Exorcist seriously.
"Allen, I need you to tell me what happened tonight. If you're not injured too badly, then come with me to my office."
The white haired boy nodded. Komui looked around at the remaining Exorcists, still serious.
"Don't talk to anyone about what is going on just yet. We won't be able to keep the Noah's presence here a secret for long, but there's no need for everyone to know the details yet."
All three nodded solemnly. Tyki made a pained sound on Lavi's back, shifting slightly. The redhead glanced swiftly over his shoulder, eyes filled with worry, then gave a strained smile to Lenalee.
"Let's get going, shall we?"
Line Break
A pair of ancient eyes, weary but still sharp, watched as the group in front of the - sealed once more - door dispersed, all heading to their prearranged locations.
Bookman sighed softly, feeling older than his considerable years as he watched the redhead carefully carry another person on his back. The teen's worry and concern were obvious, even though Bookman wished he could ignore them. The emotions were in Lavi's eyes, in the sudden growth of facial hair and the 'inexplicable' lengthening of the boy's crimson locks. There was only one way his apprentice could have aged almost a month in just a few hours.
The power of his eye. The abilities Bookman had forbidden him to use except in dire circumstances when there were no other means of escape. A dead man told no tales and recorded no history. There was only one ability that mandate did not apply to and that ability was for use under Bookman's supervision only.
The old man's eyes narrowed in thought. He had originally come down to the infirmary to talk to Lavi but had found the redhead missing. He had immediately headed for the Ark, knowing it was the place Lavi would have most likely gone to. A lock could not keep his apprentice from anything he truly wished to get at. The old man had stumbled upon the scene with Lavi and the others shortly before Komui had made his presence known.
Bookman had remained in the shadows, watching. What he had seen weighed heavily on his shoulders and his supposedly nonexistent heart.
It seemed Lavi had formed an attachment.
As he turned to go back to his room, Bookman quietly decided to wait a bit longer and observe the redhead some more before jumping to conclusions. Unlikely though it was, he might be wrong.
Line Break
Komui studied the white haired boy sitting in the chair on the other side of his desk, turning the information the Exorcist had given him over in his mind. If what Allen had said was the truth - and there was no reason to think that the boy was lying, especially since he would have come up with a more plausible story if he was being dishonest - then an incredible opportunity had just been presented to the Black Order.
A Noah, one of the Earl's inner circle, was no longer welcome on that side of the war. Said Noah might very possibly be convinced to join the Order. Even if the man never actually fought, just the information he could provide on the other Noah, the Akuma, the Earl's strategies and the Earl himself would be worth Mikk's weight in gold. If he fought too, on top of giving them the information, he was worth Hevlaska's weight in gold.
Provided, of course, that Tyki Mikk had actually switched sides. Allen might be telling the truth, but the British boy could have been deceived. If Lavi was the one to tell Allen, the white haired boy would believe it in a heartbeat simply because the redhead was his friend. Komui did not have the luxury of believing whatever a 'friend' told him, especially not one like Lavi. 'Lavi' was honest enough, but 'Bookman Junior' was not. At heart, Lavi was Bookman Junior and 'Lavi' didn't really exist.
The redhead could have lied to Allen. Mikk's injuries might only be a ruse to get one of the deadliest Noah inside the Black Order's headquarters in order to attack the Exorcists while they were asleep and unaware. Until the truth was proven, one way or another, Komui couldn't simply take Allen's story at face value. He had no doubt that the Exorcist had reported what he had seen as he had seen it, but there was no way for him to tell how many of those events had been staged, if indeed any had been. The supervisor's first priority was the lives of his Exorcists, so until Mikk had proven himself to be their ally beyond a shadow of a doubt he would need to be watched and have his powers sealed if possible.
Allen had talked of an odd seal on the Noah's chest. If, as the boy suspected, the seal was why Mikk had been physically injured by something other than Innocence, then perhaps the Order's scientists could replicate the seal. They would test it first, obviously, just to be sure that the scrap of paper Allen had described was really the cause, but Komui was reluctant to leave the paper seal on the Noah's body. He didn't trust anything he knew the Earl had helped create without thoroughly testing it first. For all he knew, it could be some sort of talisman to protect the Noah from Innocence and thus render him untouchable by any of the Order's weapons. It could be something to augment the Noah of Pleasure's already fearsome abilities.
On the other hand, throwing Mikk into a dungeon cell and interrogating him was probably not the best way to get him to join the Order. The 24-hour guard and the restriction on the man's powers were non-negotiable, but maybe if the Order provided medical care, a standard room (plus a few iron bars to add to the decoration, perhaps over the window), Jerry's home cooking and non-threatening questioning sessions...
Mikk wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere by himself, of course, and would be mostly confined to his room, but if everything worked out and the tale Allen had told was true, then the Black Order would be able to welcome a very powerful new member to their ranks.
"Komui?"
Realizing he had been spacing out, Komui blinked and focused his eyes on the Exorcist. The British boy smiled sheepishly, silver eyes reflecting his exhaustion.
"Do you have any more questions, or...?"
Komui thought for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.
"No - that will be fine for tonight. Thank you, Allen. You're dismissed."
The Exorcist stood slowly. Komui turned away in his chair, thinking more about the puzzle of Lavi and the Noah. There had to be some piece or a few facts that he was missing. He couldn't come up with a hypothesis that fully explained every detail about the situation, but he couldn't think what those missing pieces could be.
"Komui?"
Again startled out of his thoughts, the white-clad man looked towards Allen.
"Did you need something?" he asked, not unkindly. The British boy seemed to hesitate, then nodded.
"I-I think," he said slowly. "-that Tyki Mikk is on our side. I don't think this is one of the Earl's tricks."
The silver eyed boy seemed to be recalling something, his gaze distant and unfocused on the present. Komui studied him for a moment.
Unbeknownst to his superior, Allen was recalling the way Lavi's gaze had softened when he spoke of the Noah as well as the desperation the redhead had to save Tyki Mikk from the clutches of the Earl. Lavi seemed to wholeheartedly believe that Mikk was capable of turning good and going against his family and from what Allen had seen, the hammer-user was the one who knew Mikk better than anyone else in the Order. Perhaps better than anyone else, fullstop.
There had to be something there, even if Lavi had never said exactly what there was between him and Tyki Mikk. That Lavi was with them still was probably thanks to the unconscious Noah who was likely in the infirmary already. The redhead could have died when he was captured by the Noah and the Earl, but he had somehow managed to escape and had returned to headquarters with amateur bandaging on his injuries and a fine silk shirt no one had seen him wearing before. Also, one of the Pleasure's Tease had alerted Allen while he, Lenalee, and Kanda sat in the lunchroom that Lavi needed medical help.
When he thought about it, it didn't seem so far fetched that the redhead would want to rescue a Noah. Without the facts he couldn't be certain, but it seemed that Mikk had done a fair share of rescuing too.
"Why do you believe Mikk?" Komui asked gently, drawing Allen from his thoughts. "Is there anything else I should know, anything you didn't tell me that could be important?"
The Brit considered for a moment, expression partially guarded. Komui waited. Slowly, Allen shook his head.
"No... nothing for sure." There was plenty of evidence, but mostly what he had was a gut feeling and observations he couldn't explain in words. He didn't have enough to make it worth mentioning to his superior.
Komui nodded. He could tell that there was something else, but he could also sense that Allen wouldn't tell him even if he asked. It probably wasn't too important; Allen would have included it in his report if it was.
"If you think of anything, let me know."
The Exorcist nodded, still thoughtful, then turned and left the office. Komui watched him go, mind already turning back to the issue at hand.
What was the real truth behind Mikk's supposed defection from the Earl's side?
TBC…
Previous
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Author: Bookkbaby
Rating: Teen
Warnings: YAOI
Summary: LUCKY Pair. It started as a simple game of poker, but a little white lie from Lavi changes everything. ['If you lose... you spend the night here, with me, and let me do whatever I want with you.']
A/N: This is my first multichapter fanfic for the DGM fandom! Yay! I’m fairly new to the fandom, but hopefully I haven’t made any unforgivable mistakes.
Warnings: YAOI, which means BOYS LOVING BOYS. If you dislike that, then the back button is easy enough to find. Please click that and leave. Limes are in the future, and lemons in the uncut versions (not on fanfiction(dot)net). Maybe some OOC, spoilers for the end of the anime later on.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these lovely characters, that honor belongs to Katsura Hoshino. (Though if Hoshino-sama ever has a sale, I call dibs on Tyki… what?) I don’t own anything but a copy of the anime series and all volumes of the manga in English. Anything you don’t recognize (like the plotline of ‘A Game of Poker’) does belong to me. Everything else… not so much. Please don’t sue.
Super special awesome thanks to Misster Cackles, who is now my beta! All remaining mistakes are mine.
Last Time On ‘A Game Of Poker’:
Allen nodded, silver eyes flicking to Tyki for a moment, then back to Lavi before the parasitic-Innocence user turned back towards the door of what had been the Pleasure's prison. The Noah let his eyes slide shut as they walked towards the door, slowly drifting into unconsciousness once more.
And Now, The Continuation
A Game of Poker, Chapter 16
Traitor
Lenalee leaned against the wall, alternately glancing at the floor, the locked door that kept her from going to the Ark to find her friends, and Kanda. The Japanese swordsman was leaning on the wall a few feet away from her, arms folded as he glared at the wall opposite them.
She looked at the door again.
Lenalee had left her brother's office shortly after Kanda had, intending originally to go to her room, but she wanted to see if Lavi and Allen had returned. If they had, it would be by using the Ark and so she had made her way to the locked room of the Science Department. Kanda had already been there and hadn't given her more than a curt nod to show that he realized she was with him.
He was worried. The Japanese Exorcist wasn't one to show his emotions openly, but after knowing him for several years, Lenalee knew his cold attitude hid a heart warmer than Kanda would like. Most people in the Order - especially Finders - didn't know that Kanda could be very kind when he wanted to be. He was her defender whenever Leverrier came around, after all, since he knew how much the man terrified her.
Kanda hadn't moved much since she had arrived, only shifting his weight occasionally and stealing glances at the door before glaring at the far wall again.
"Waiting for them to come back?" she asked, voice loud in the otherwise silent hallway even though she tried to whisper.
"Che. Those idiots can go die for all I care. It would reduce the moron population." Kanda retorted. He didn't look at her and Lenalee smiled sadly.
"Me too," she replied, hearing the 'yes' the Japanese man would never say. The swordsman's scowl deepened in reply.
Line Break
Komui sat with his back against the wall in a dark hallway inside the Order Headquarters as he listened to his sister talking to Kanda. He had successfully escaped from Reever and the evil paperwork, but the information his precious Lenalee had delivered was worrisome. He had meant to just drop by the doors and make sure that they were truly locked before heading off to sleep - he was rather tired, having been slaving at his desk all day - but he couldn't simply leave Lenalee alone with a man late at night in a deserted hallway.
Even if it was Kanda.
He listened carefully to the two teens as they talked quietly - well, more like Lenalee talked and Kanda would grunt occasionally to show that he was listening. Komui's eyes felt so heavy. Shutting them for a moment wouldn't do any harm and he could still hear them without his eyes open.
He yawned quietly, unconsciously shifting against the wall to get comfortable as his eyes slid shut.
Line Break
"Cross Grave!"
Most of the Akuma rushing along the hall behind them had only seconds to cry out before the white crosses on their chests killed them in fiery explosions. The ones who hadn't gotten caught in the fearsome attack kept following, more joining the group with every intersection in the hallway as Allen and Lavi ran desperately back to the door to the Ark.
They were still a bit of a ways away, but it was all running straight from here on. The weight of the Noah was heavy on Lavi's back and his arms shook with exertion, but he refused to give up. He wished he had his usual bandana on, since it would have kept the sweat forming on his forehead from dripping into his eyes, but there was no helping it. He couldn't let go of one of Tyki's legs to wipe at his face with his sleeve - the unconscious Noah would fall right out of his grasp and hit the floor.
"Allen! You... all right?" he shouted in between pants after a particularly loud explosion nearly threw him off balance.
"Yes! Keep going!" Allen's voice sounded strained, but Lavi didn't dare turn around. The door was just ahead; he could practically see it now. The Brit's voice had sounded not too far behind him, so he was sure the white haired boy was holding his own.
He took a firmer grip on Tyki's legs and kept running. He could hear Allen call out 'Cross Grave' again, more loud explosions, then the sound of running footsteps. Lavi's body relaxed marginally at the sound, running faster and skidding to a stop as he reached the door to what had been Tyki's room. He shot a glance down the hallway and saw Allen running towards him, the light of an explosion quickly fading to nothing and several more Akuma rushing through the smoke.
Lavi turned back to the door. He couldn't use his hands to open the door, so he lifted a foot and used the combined weight of himself and the man he carried to kick the door open. It cracked under his first kick and buckled entirely under the second. The redhead rushed into the room as Allen reached the doorway. Lavi concentrated on ending the illusion that hid the Ark's entrance, stopping in the middle of the room and staring at where the door should appear.
In moments, it did. He turned back to look at the doorway, which Allen was defending with his back turned towards Lavi. The white haired boy clawed at one of the Akuma in front of him, scratching through the metal skin and causing the machine to explode.
"Allen!" Lavi called. The British boy turned to glance into the room, a tired smile breaking out over his face for a moment as he registered the door. Allen turned back to his opponents, crying out one last 'Cross Grave' and striking.
He had turned and begun moving towards the other Exorcist before the sound of the explosions had even faded. Together, they ran into the Ark, both momentarily blinded by the bright whiteness of the Ark's interior.
Even though he couldn't see, Allen could still feel. He blindly reached for the door handle and slammed the door shut, closing off the connection to the Millennium Earl's stronghold.
They were safe.
Both were breathing heavily, Allen covered in numerous small cuts from flying shrapnel, but they were both alive. Carefully, the redhead shifted the precious burden on his back, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. The Noah he carried moaned lightly in pain at the movement, but the sound only brought a somewhat relieved, somewhat guilty smile to Lavi's face. As long as the Pleasure could feel pain and make noise, it meant that the man was still alive.
"Let's get going." Lavi said, hearing the soft flap of wings as the Tease that had been clinging to the Noah flew up to rest in the Exorcist's hair. Allen nodded, a weary smile on his face as he fell into step next to his friend.
Line Break
Kanda glared at the wall as if he hated it simply for existing. Though he wasn't really seeing it, his thoughts focused entirely elsewhere, he kept his eyes on the wall. Staring at the door he had been standing next to for at least an hour, waiting for a white haired idiot and a redheaded moron to walk through, was just pathetic. Kanda Yuu was many things, but he was not pathetic.
Realizing his eyes had drifted to the locked door, he scowled and returned his glare to the wall. Glaring at the wall wasn't nearly as satisfying as glaring at a living creature - the brick refused to quail under his stare - but the only other 'living creature' here was Lenalee and glaring at her right now would be like kicking an injured kitten. Even Kanda wouldn't stoop so low.
The low sound of metal sliding over metal reached his ears. His eyes widened fractionally as he turned, gaze locking with Lenalee's for an instant before both Exorcist's turned towards the now-opening door. The Japanese man instinctively laid a hand on Mugen, ready to draw it if necessary as the door shuddered to a stop. Two figures stepped out of the previously locked room. One was moyashi-sized and shaped while the second seemed to have twice the normal number of limbs. As the figures stepped into the beams of moonlight illuminating the hallway, Kanda's eyes widened further and Lenalee gasped in shock as the identity of the figures was revealed.
The first, as the swordsman had expected, was Allen. The sight of the moyashi's slightly bruised and bloody but not seriously injured form caused an inexplicable wave of relief to crash through his blood. It was the second figure that made him narrow his eyes and unsheathe his Innocence.
The many limbed second figure was in fact two men, one being carried on the other's back. He knew the figure being carried well enough and didn't care to know any more; the man had almost killed him not too long ago. The man doing the carrying was unfamiliar to him. His hair was the same color as Lavi's, but the stupid rabbit's hair was several inches shorter. The man in front of Kanda also had some sort of ridiculous hair ornament that looked disturbingly like one of the butterfly golems the Noah riding on the redhead's back used to attack people. As if sensing Kanda's stare, the 'hair ornament' closed and then opened its wings. The swordsman's scowl deepened.
Half of the redheaded man's face was covered by a beard and a mustache and one of his eyes was a strange, ever changing cycle of colors that seemed to glow faintly in the dimness. Said eye was surrounded by burn scars.
Kanda leveled Mugen at the unknown (though somehow vaguely familiar) redhead and the Noah he carried. The man stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening in what seemed to be surprise rather than fear. Allen stopped as well, staring at the sword and swordsman uncomprehendingly.
"Who are you and why the hell did you bring a Noah here?" he demanded. Lenalee moved towards Allen, a relieved smile on her face as she gave the Japanese man and his weapon a wide berth. Kanda could see her glance at the redhead, a vaguely puzzled look on her face and then a slightly fearful one as she looked at the unconscious Noah on the man's back.
The redhead glanced from the sword to Allen, backing up a half-step.
"Allen? I don't think Yuu-chan recognizes me. A little help here?" The man seemed a bit desperate and impatient, shifting his weight from one foot to the other but careful not to jar the unconscious man he carried.
Kanda lowered Mugen, shocked. That was Lavi's voice. There was no mistaking it, but how was that even possible? His eyes narrowed as he sheathed Mugen once more, staring closely at the redhead's face.
"Lavi?" Lenalee asked, moving away from Allen to the supposed Bookman in training. She looked closely at his face, reaching up to move some of his hair. 'Lavi' allowed it, smiling weakly. The Chinese girl smiled in return, green eyes brightening with recognition.
"Looks like you didn't need help." Allen said, grinning a bit. Kanda scowled, eyes moving to the man on his friend's back.
"What happened?" Lenalee asked the rabbit, her hand moving to tug lightly on the older Exorcist's beard. "How did you-"
"Why the hell did you bring him here, you damn baka-usagi?" Kanda growled, not caring that he had interrupted. The three other Exorcists looked at him, two worried, one guarded and determined. "Why the hell is Tyki Mikk here?!"
The demand ended in a shout, causing Lenalee to flinch and Allen to wince, but Lavi met his eyes steadily and seemed completely unaffected by it. Kanda's glare intensified and the tension rose as Lenalee and Allen glanced from one to the other, both uncertain of what to say.
The standoff was broken by the sound of someone scrambling clumsily to their feet and hurried footsteps as that same 'someone' came around the corner. Kanda spun, hand going once more to Mugen before he recognized the figure.
Komui stood there, beret askew and white duster rumpled as he stared in shock at the group of five, particularly the Noah Lavi carried. There was only silence as the Supervisor took in the redhead's changed appearance and then lingered on Tyki Mikk once more.
"Tyki Mikk..." Komui said slowly, words heavy in the tense air. The beret-topped man shook his head, fixing his hat. "I'm sure there is a reasonable and perfectly logical explanation for why you brought a Noah into Exorcist headquarters late at night when everyone would be asleep without warning anyone and while using the Ark without permission-"
"There is." Allen and Lavi said together, voices firm. Komui, Lenalee, and Kanda stared at the pair in surprise; no one could remember the last time either had interrupted Komui, if either ever had. Allen as always so respectful and normally allowed others to finish their sentences. Lavi wasn't quite as polite as Allen, but still had a good degree of that same respect.
"He's not with the Millennium Earl anymore." Lavi added, sending another wave of shock through everyone but Allen. His voice grew a bit anxious and gained a touch of desperation. "He needs medical help, somewhere safe from the Earl... please?"
Komui stared in shock, seeing the normally bright, happy teen bow his head, eyes downcast.
"He... turned against them?" Komui breathed. The redhead hadn't betrayed them? Lavi and Allen had gone to rescue a Noah?
Kanda scoffed, drawing the attention of the others to him.
"You think he really betrayed them?" he asked coldly. Lavi glared back at him which, though surprising, only served to fuel the Japanese man's anger. "Do you honestly think that he betrayed the Earl and the other bloodthirsty bastards he calls 'family'?"
"He saved my life!" Lavi shot back, ending the swordsman's tirade and sending dead silence through the hall.
"He saved my life," Lavi repeated more quietly as his hands tightened their grip. "-and the Earl punished him for it."
Komui pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Lenalee, Kanda-kun," he began, the two named Exorcists looking at him - well, the swordsman's expression was on its default glare. "Help Lavi get Tyki Mikk to the infirmary and wake up the Head Nurse. She is to do what she can for the Noah and run a check up on Lavi’s injuries."
The redhead's face broke into a relieved grin while Lenalee nodded seriously.
"Che. The fucking rabbit can do it by himself." The swordsman spun on his heel and stomped away, footsteps echoing off the walls and then fading as the man walked out of sight.
The hammer-user watched his friend walk away, a pained but resigned expression on his face. Allen touched his shoulder encouragingly.
"He'll come around. Eventually, anyway."
Komui cleared his throat, drawing the attention back to him. He looked at the British Exorcist seriously.
"Allen, I need you to tell me what happened tonight. If you're not injured too badly, then come with me to my office."
The white haired boy nodded. Komui looked around at the remaining Exorcists, still serious.
"Don't talk to anyone about what is going on just yet. We won't be able to keep the Noah's presence here a secret for long, but there's no need for everyone to know the details yet."
All three nodded solemnly. Tyki made a pained sound on Lavi's back, shifting slightly. The redhead glanced swiftly over his shoulder, eyes filled with worry, then gave a strained smile to Lenalee.
"Let's get going, shall we?"
Line Break
A pair of ancient eyes, weary but still sharp, watched as the group in front of the - sealed once more - door dispersed, all heading to their prearranged locations.
Bookman sighed softly, feeling older than his considerable years as he watched the redhead carefully carry another person on his back. The teen's worry and concern were obvious, even though Bookman wished he could ignore them. The emotions were in Lavi's eyes, in the sudden growth of facial hair and the 'inexplicable' lengthening of the boy's crimson locks. There was only one way his apprentice could have aged almost a month in just a few hours.
The power of his eye. The abilities Bookman had forbidden him to use except in dire circumstances when there were no other means of escape. A dead man told no tales and recorded no history. There was only one ability that mandate did not apply to and that ability was for use under Bookman's supervision only.
The old man's eyes narrowed in thought. He had originally come down to the infirmary to talk to Lavi but had found the redhead missing. He had immediately headed for the Ark, knowing it was the place Lavi would have most likely gone to. A lock could not keep his apprentice from anything he truly wished to get at. The old man had stumbled upon the scene with Lavi and the others shortly before Komui had made his presence known.
Bookman had remained in the shadows, watching. What he had seen weighed heavily on his shoulders and his supposedly nonexistent heart.
It seemed Lavi had formed an attachment.
As he turned to go back to his room, Bookman quietly decided to wait a bit longer and observe the redhead some more before jumping to conclusions. Unlikely though it was, he might be wrong.
Line Break
Komui studied the white haired boy sitting in the chair on the other side of his desk, turning the information the Exorcist had given him over in his mind. If what Allen had said was the truth - and there was no reason to think that the boy was lying, especially since he would have come up with a more plausible story if he was being dishonest - then an incredible opportunity had just been presented to the Black Order.
A Noah, one of the Earl's inner circle, was no longer welcome on that side of the war. Said Noah might very possibly be convinced to join the Order. Even if the man never actually fought, just the information he could provide on the other Noah, the Akuma, the Earl's strategies and the Earl himself would be worth Mikk's weight in gold. If he fought too, on top of giving them the information, he was worth Hevlaska's weight in gold.
Provided, of course, that Tyki Mikk had actually switched sides. Allen might be telling the truth, but the British boy could have been deceived. If Lavi was the one to tell Allen, the white haired boy would believe it in a heartbeat simply because the redhead was his friend. Komui did not have the luxury of believing whatever a 'friend' told him, especially not one like Lavi. 'Lavi' was honest enough, but 'Bookman Junior' was not. At heart, Lavi was Bookman Junior and 'Lavi' didn't really exist.
The redhead could have lied to Allen. Mikk's injuries might only be a ruse to get one of the deadliest Noah inside the Black Order's headquarters in order to attack the Exorcists while they were asleep and unaware. Until the truth was proven, one way or another, Komui couldn't simply take Allen's story at face value. He had no doubt that the Exorcist had reported what he had seen as he had seen it, but there was no way for him to tell how many of those events had been staged, if indeed any had been. The supervisor's first priority was the lives of his Exorcists, so until Mikk had proven himself to be their ally beyond a shadow of a doubt he would need to be watched and have his powers sealed if possible.
Allen had talked of an odd seal on the Noah's chest. If, as the boy suspected, the seal was why Mikk had been physically injured by something other than Innocence, then perhaps the Order's scientists could replicate the seal. They would test it first, obviously, just to be sure that the scrap of paper Allen had described was really the cause, but Komui was reluctant to leave the paper seal on the Noah's body. He didn't trust anything he knew the Earl had helped create without thoroughly testing it first. For all he knew, it could be some sort of talisman to protect the Noah from Innocence and thus render him untouchable by any of the Order's weapons. It could be something to augment the Noah of Pleasure's already fearsome abilities.
On the other hand, throwing Mikk into a dungeon cell and interrogating him was probably not the best way to get him to join the Order. The 24-hour guard and the restriction on the man's powers were non-negotiable, but maybe if the Order provided medical care, a standard room (plus a few iron bars to add to the decoration, perhaps over the window), Jerry's home cooking and non-threatening questioning sessions...
Mikk wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere by himself, of course, and would be mostly confined to his room, but if everything worked out and the tale Allen had told was true, then the Black Order would be able to welcome a very powerful new member to their ranks.
"Komui?"
Realizing he had been spacing out, Komui blinked and focused his eyes on the Exorcist. The British boy smiled sheepishly, silver eyes reflecting his exhaustion.
"Do you have any more questions, or...?"
Komui thought for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.
"No - that will be fine for tonight. Thank you, Allen. You're dismissed."
The Exorcist stood slowly. Komui turned away in his chair, thinking more about the puzzle of Lavi and the Noah. There had to be some piece or a few facts that he was missing. He couldn't come up with a hypothesis that fully explained every detail about the situation, but he couldn't think what those missing pieces could be.
"Komui?"
Again startled out of his thoughts, the white-clad man looked towards Allen.
"Did you need something?" he asked, not unkindly. The British boy seemed to hesitate, then nodded.
"I-I think," he said slowly. "-that Tyki Mikk is on our side. I don't think this is one of the Earl's tricks."
The silver eyed boy seemed to be recalling something, his gaze distant and unfocused on the present. Komui studied him for a moment.
Unbeknownst to his superior, Allen was recalling the way Lavi's gaze had softened when he spoke of the Noah as well as the desperation the redhead had to save Tyki Mikk from the clutches of the Earl. Lavi seemed to wholeheartedly believe that Mikk was capable of turning good and going against his family and from what Allen had seen, the hammer-user was the one who knew Mikk better than anyone else in the Order. Perhaps better than anyone else, fullstop.
There had to be something there, even if Lavi had never said exactly what there was between him and Tyki Mikk. That Lavi was with them still was probably thanks to the unconscious Noah who was likely in the infirmary already. The redhead could have died when he was captured by the Noah and the Earl, but he had somehow managed to escape and had returned to headquarters with amateur bandaging on his injuries and a fine silk shirt no one had seen him wearing before. Also, one of the Pleasure's Tease had alerted Allen while he, Lenalee, and Kanda sat in the lunchroom that Lavi needed medical help.
When he thought about it, it didn't seem so far fetched that the redhead would want to rescue a Noah. Without the facts he couldn't be certain, but it seemed that Mikk had done a fair share of rescuing too.
"Why do you believe Mikk?" Komui asked gently, drawing Allen from his thoughts. "Is there anything else I should know, anything you didn't tell me that could be important?"
The Brit considered for a moment, expression partially guarded. Komui waited. Slowly, Allen shook his head.
"No... nothing for sure." There was plenty of evidence, but mostly what he had was a gut feeling and observations he couldn't explain in words. He didn't have enough to make it worth mentioning to his superior.
Komui nodded. He could tell that there was something else, but he could also sense that Allen wouldn't tell him even if he asked. It probably wasn't too important; Allen would have included it in his report if it was.
"If you think of anything, let me know."
The Exorcist nodded, still thoughtful, then turned and left the office. Komui watched him go, mind already turning back to the issue at hand.
What was the real truth behind Mikk's supposed defection from the Earl's side?
TBC…
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