Lenalee had nodded and silently followed Lavi's lead out of the room. She wasn't sure what to say to Allen... not really... of course, her thoughts were quickly pulled away at the sight of Allen's empty room. What?... her immediate thought was that Allen had probably headed down for food... seeing as he did that often, but Lavi, clearly, was panicking. Perhaps Allen had taken this far harder than she thought, although admittedly, she also couldnt help thinking that whatever Lavi had just said to her... he clearly had that link to them, whether he understood it or not... When Lavi took off, she immediately followed, worry for Allen once again taking its hold.

Maya had noticed Kanda pas.s without the need to open her eyes. Jeez... there was no mistaking that aura. She allowed herself to look at him only after he had pas.sed her completely, her eyes on his back, her mind trying, again, to read him. It was a mix... a nightmare is what woke him, she was positive. Everyone had nightmares, and 9 times out of 10 they felt the same way afterwards. She sighed, no points for guessing what invaded his mind tonight. She had actually nodded off when she heard a panicked voice. The red-head? His aura was more panicked than his voice had portrayed. Her eyes snapped open as looked both ways down the hallway she was in. The hell... She pulled herself up, immediately heading towards the bookmans location and stopping once she caught sight of them. hmm... Allen was missing?...

Lavi's panicked voice, woke the Japanese exorcist. He stared at the red-head unamused and shook his head to answer the question about the silver-haired boy. Everyone seemed worried about Allen, what would posses that kid to walk around the streets after dark.
 
He sighed and dropped his arm down "He's probably walking around headquarters...." standing himself up. Kanda in a way hoped he was right, though he didn't care much for silver-haired exorcist and what he was up to.

But since they were the last ones to see him and he's still under suspicion..that they too would be suspicious if he wasn't soon to be found.
 
---
 
Tyki looked over at whom had just entered the building. A sick feeling grew in his stomach 'Well...he's alive...just as expected.' he smiled at his human friends "Please excuse me for a moment." pushing himself from the table and walked over to his fellow rival, whose innocence was still activated, 'He couldn't possible think of fighting me here...or is it something else?' He smiled at the boy as if  what ever happened previously never occurred. "What brings you here, boy?" Allen seemed a bit frightened and out of breath, he was definitely running away from something.

Disguising his hate for the kid, he draped an arm over his shoulder and gestured towards the table "Care to join us." he smiled his fake, friendly smile.

((To those of you who care and do this sort of thing, I have made a D.Gray-man fanclub. Dunno what possessed me to do this. xD Check it out here.))

BIC|| "Dammit..." Lavi breathed. Okay, so he had overreacted. But if Allen hadn't come this way, that meant that he hadn't gone to the cafeteria...had he gone to the Ark? Curse him if he had! But why the hell would he need to? 'Why does he always do this to us?' He clenched his teeth and turned to face Lenalee and Maya as Kanda got up from the chair. "We have to find him. Who knows what trouble he could have gotten himself--or us--into."

~*"*~

Allen flinched. So much for the hiding plan. But as Tyki approached him, he felt that all too familiar fear icing up his lungs and catching hold of his throat, making his breaths wheeze painfully through his dry lips. He tried to steel himself, 'This is no time to panic...!' He flicked his tongue over his lips to sweeten his voice as he replied, "I was out hunting akuma." Short, sweet, and to the point: just the answer Allen had wanted to give.

He blinked up at the disguised Noah as the offending arm dropped over his shoulders. He felt hatred boiling in his veins and melting away the paralyzing fear that had stopped up his breathing. Such a smooth-talker...Allen couldn't suppress the shiver that tore up his spine at the Noah's touch. Curse Tyki for knowing that he couldn't turn down a game. He allowed his ex
pression to turn sweet again and cast his rival a cordial smile as he relaxed his Innocence and walked to the table, skirting around it to find a comfortable place by the wall. "Certainly I'll play with you, gentlemen, if you have room for one more," he addressed the table with a warm smile that he had cleverly placed there to hide the warring fear and rage tearing him apart on the inside. Hopefully they would ask him to deal...that way he could pick out his cards and become the 'Card Shark' that Tyki had labeled him. Though it would be a bit difficult...the only sleeves he had were the sleeves of the heavy black trench-coat that he had pulled over his uniform before he had left the Order, and they were barely long enough to hide a hand of cards. He cursed; hopefully they hadn't planned on playing Strip Poker. 

~(dont worry about it Rhode, the Noah's cant do much just yet anyways xD)~

Lenalee eyes found the new exorcist, strange she should be here... but then again, she was involved in this to some extent. She turned her face back to Lavi and Kanda "You want to just take a look around headquarters?" She was a little doubtful about it, searching headquarters could take a bit... and Allen could be anywhere.

"He's not in the building" Maya figured she should probably tell them, lest they waste time on searching the place... She couldn't detect Allen anywhere too close to headquarters outside, but she knew for a fact he wasn't inside. Lenalee looked at Maya, she sounded so sure but... how did she know?... Lenalee looked over at the hallway that led to the cafeteria and then the grounds. What would Allen be doing outside anyway... she was getting a bad feeling about this...

---

Cyril winced at the sound of the scraping chair. His so called daughter enjoyed annoying him like this... he sighed slightly "hmm... i havnt started as of yet... i was hoping tyki would show seeing as he knows far more about these exorcists than i do... but i suppose we may have to..." he walked over to the window, his face reflected against the night outside. Figures, ah well... they were going to have to come up with a starting point atleast... he turned back to his daughter. "tell me, Rhode dear~ Do you have any ideas?"

Lavi quickly drew his hammer from its holster upon his thigh and gave it a small twirl. Dammit, Bookman would kill him for leaving unannounced...but he had to find Allen, no matter what. It wasn't like the younger exorcist to leave without telling someone where he had gone. The whole situation smelled...fishy. Lavi wrinkled his nose at the thought as he motioned for the other exorcists to follow him outside.

Once they had left the warm confines of the castle, Lavi stabbed the cross atop his weapon into the ground and aimed it at the town. "I bet Allen went down there...you guys know that his eye has been freaking out a lot lately, yeah?" he glanced back at Kanda and Lenalee for a moment, "I think he went into town to fight off an akuma." Without waiting for a reply he looked back at the small town and gave a quick order to his weapon, "Ōzuchi Kozuchi, extend!" and the hammer took off, taking its owner into the tiny town's center.

~*"*~

Allen glanced around warily. The gear-like monocle over his left eye that detected akuma had calmed down, but was not disappearing like it should have. He casually pushed some of his hair over his eye in an attempt to hide it, but this failed miserably. Dammit. Tyki had sent his akuma away, but where to? He bit his lip as he thought of his fellow exorcists...what if they were looking for him...?

"I'm easy. What would you like to do?" he glanced over at Tyki, his eyes burning with hatred.

Lenalee watched Lavi head off then promptly followed suite, activating her Dark Boots and taking off into the air, following shortly behind Lavi. Usually, any other time Allen would choose to fight an Akuma would be just fine, she knew he was capable... but after the day they'd had, all of them, it wouldnt go quite so smoothly. He was still weak, they'd barely been back an hour, she clenched her fists and sped up.

Damn, the kid was proving to be quite a bit of trouble. Maya kept her eyes on the two figures fast dissapearing into the night air, before glancing sideways at the black haired loner she'd been left with. Great. She heaved a sigh, and started walking towards the town, the quicker they found this exorcist the quicker they could get back.

---

Cyril raised his hands at his daughters question. "You know full well the Earl has kept me here, what with the opportunities for war and such... Its not exactly easy you know~" He continued to look out of the window, his eyes unseeing as he thought about those exorcists. When he felt Rhode step up beside him, he looked at her, and watched her with a slight smile. After she had asked her question, he looked back through the glas.s. "I think, Rhode dear, that we probably should... although, i dont think he'll be too happy with the inturruption" He chuckled and strolled away from the window, "alright, lets get going~"

Lavi was able to stop his hammer before it sent him crashing into the cobblestones of the road, and he landed on his feet with a scowl on his face. Where was Allen? He glanced around the empty square as he shoved his Innocence back into its holster, narrowing his single green eye in a frustrated manner. Bookman would probably murder him for going out on a whim, but he had no choice; the suspicions that had fallen upon Allen would also be pas.sed onto the other exorcists because of their as.sociation with him. If he was not found...it would just be more trouble. Lavi as.sured himself that he was only out here for that reason.

The creaking, metallic sounds of akuma joints moving caught his attention, and he whirled around just in time to avoid the claw of the level three that Allen had been after. The Bookman-to-be gritted his teeth and swiftly popped his hammer from its place on his thigh and invoked it. "Oi, keep yer claws to yourself, akuma! Ōzuchi Kozuchi, grow, grow, grow!" he slammed the heavy (and now much larger) weapon into the creature's head, sending it spinning off down the empty street. Cursing, Lavi looked up at the sky and called, "Heeeeyyy! There's an akuma down here, Lenaleeeeee! I could use some help!"

At Lavi's shout, Lenalee glanced below at the streets, her eyes immediately locating Lavi and the akuma. With a small sigh, she delibrately shot herself from the air, feet first, the Dark Boots blazing with green energy as they made contact with the akuma Lavi had previously hit into a daze. The impact created a resounding crash, followed by a cloud of dust and rubble, obscuring both exorcist and akuma. Lenalee then shot herself forward, shooting out of m*censored* of debris and coming to a halt alongside Lavi, still suspended in the air, her eyes looking back at the crash site.

"Whatever you say, pretty boy..." Maya had not spoken to the silent and stand off-ish exorcist on the way down here, and she looked at the akuma without much surprise. She was not uncomfortable around the black haired exorcist, she just didnt want to take herself back to what happened in the ark. She thought about it for a second... well... atleast now she had some sort of explanation for the guy's unspoken malice and irritating aura, no damn wonder really...  She continued down the street at a slower pace, taking in the changes of the two aura's behind her while keeping her mind open for the one she was trying to find.

---

Cyril snorted slightly at his daughters comment. "Butterfly hugger..." He chuckled. "You have a great way with words, Rhode..." He looked around the room once, before turning back to his most adorable family member with a smile. "We'll use your doors... i dont mind the walk" He put his hands behind his head and waited for Rhode to make use of her ability. Where was Tyki anyway? Ah well... seems they'd soon find out~

Lavi narrowed his single eye as he watched the dust from Lenalee's attack fade away. This creature must be the akuma that Allen had come out after. But where was Allen, then? He cursed softly; they were at a big disadvantage without Allen's eye...he had come to rely on it more than he had wanted to. It really was handy to know how many akuma were around and where they were.

The akuma rose slowly, shakily, red eyes locked onto Lenalee. Lavi was prepared for another strike, but this time he would rely more heavily upon his hammer's seals than its size. He gave the hammer a twirl and slammed it into the ground, activating the fire seal. "Pillar of Flames!"

~*"*~

Allen relaxed slightly; no bets meant that he didn't have to worry about winning or losing. But then...why was he here? Was Tyki trying to keep him or something? He did not leave his place against the wall, keeping his silvery eyes locked onto the disguised Noah in a hawk-like manner. What the hell was he planning?

As the silver-haired exorcist was about to take his five cards from Tyki, a flickering flash of orange lit up the entire room, startling him into looking up at the windows. Was that--? A sick feeling grew in his stomach: it had to be Lavi's fire stamp.

(( Sorry sorry~ I've been really busy D: ..sorry if this is crap..but it's something ))

 He waited patiently for the Akuma to come out of hiding. Kanda was glad to see an opponent he could finish of quickly, rather than facing Noahs that kept retreating. The Akuma rustled around in the dark alley and finally took noticed of the exorcist that stood before him.

Kanda ran two fingers along the back of the blade, activating Mugen. "Kaichū: Ichigen..."  he created a portal for the Hell's insects to come out of. When the Akuma was distracted, the Japanese exorcist activated the illusionary blade, which was formed in his other hand.

He charged at the demon, puncturing the Akuma in its gut. Digging deeper into the Akuma, with both blades and with force pulled both swords across the demon, slicing it in half. The exorcist took one last look at the Akuma remains. "Such a waist of time...." placing Mugen away and ran back to the others.

---

His eyes caught the bright orange light. 'The hell was that...could it be Allen's friends...'  Tyki slicked his hair back, out of his eyes and glanced over at the silver-haired exorcist. "Ne what's wrong, kid..." pushing the cards closer to Allen.

He took a glance at his cards and swapped out two of them. The Noah let out a sigh and placed his cards down, for some reason he just didn't seem to be in the mood for poker; which is very rare for him. Maybe it was the fact that Allen showed up and ruined his moment of peace. He couldn't allow himself to be found out by his human friends though; making him keep his human form and be nice to the kid that sat besides him.

Would it be possible for him to pick up and leave the situation. He pondered the thought '...if the exorcists are out there...they would know it was him...and he would be screwed...' Tyki scratched his head '...staying here would probably be best...as for him..' he cursed his in his head, there was nothing the Noah could do. Especially when he's not in his noah form and is surrounded by humans.

Maya continued walking, keeping her senses open to aura's existing around her. She pulled herself to a stop once the aura of the akuma behind had vanished. She blinked and turned. The guy had taken less than 3 minutes to destroy the thing? She turned back and started walking again, slower this time, waiting for the black haired exorcist to catch up just as she caught Lavi and Lenalee's aura's. They weren't that far ahead, and they weren't alone, either.

Lenalee moved herself backwards as Lavi unleashed his fire seal, keeping her eyes locked on the akuma as she did so. No point risking anything... not after all they had endured on the ark. As she watched the swirling flames from Lavi's attackm her mind wandered back to Allen... Where was he? Surely if he had come out here for the akuma they'd have come across him by now... She gritted her teeth, darn.

Allen shook his head and took his cards from Tyki, "It's nothing, that flash just startled me." He laughed nervously and traded out three of his cards, his eyes lighting up when he saw his hand. "Call," he murmured, laying down his hand. "Flush." Sure, it wasn't a Royal Flush, but it was a good hand nonetheless.

He quietly excused himself from the table for a moment and walked to the window, his eyes watching the street for any movement. If that burst of fiery light was indeed from Lavi's hammer, then the exorcist that was tied to it must be around somewhere nearby...and he desperately needed a way out of this place to avoid any harm from the disguised Noah. He watched and waited nervously, idly unzipping the metal zipper adorning his left arm and allowing his Innocence to breathe. How could he escape?

There! A smile broke out on his pale lips as he saw Lavi land on the ground a few feet away from the building that he was trapped inside. Lenalee came with him; thank the Lord! Maybe he could get out safely!

Lavi grinned. It had been an easy defeat, another akuma added to the collection of them that he had destroyed. The victory was bittersweet, however, as he found his thoughts drifting back to Allen. How hard could it be to find one little exorcist? He stuffed his Innocence back into its holster upon his thigh and pushed his headband up on his forehead, looking blankly up at Lenalee.

"Any ideas?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

A gentle tapping caught his attention. He looked over towards the sound and was surprised to find himself looking at the very person they had been trying to find. Allen gave him a weak wave, to which he waved back and called, "Allen! What're you doing, eh?!" Allen's reply was silent, but it was enough to unnerve the Bookman-to-be: the silver-haired exorcist mouthed the word 'Noah' to him, then jabbed a thumb back into the dark building.

It didn't take any more communication between them for Lavi to understand Allen's peril. The redhead crept up to the door and casually poked his head into the building, "Oi, Allen! Come on now, eh? We need to head out." he scanned the room briefly, analyzing the situation before adding some meat to his statement, "Tell your friends that you'll see them another day."

"Oh, Lavi!" Allen acted surprised at the other exorcist's presence. "Sorry, is it that late? I must have gotten carried away playing Poker..." he glanced over at the table of miners and gave them a polite bow. "Perhaps we can play again sometime." his gaze locked onto Tyki for a moment, and the hatred inside of him flared up again. Every second that he stared into those thick glas.ses felt like an hour, and every one of those make-believe hours was filled with this burning hatred, making his very soul burn like dry wood. It took Lavi's casual looping of an arm about his shoulders to snap him out of the Hellish daze, and the redhead led him out of the building in silence, praying that the Noah would not decide to follow them.