"See, the earlier things have come to pass, new ones I now foretell;

Before they spring into being, I announce them to you"

-Isaiah 42:9

But, with the night, there is always a dawn waiting to rise, to banish the darkness. So the sun rose, and Lavi grudgingly gave up on any sleep whatsoever and made his way to the cafeteria with Bookman, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

The hallways seemed less forbidding, as if such a simple thing as a little sunlight could somehow eliminate the darkness that had plagued him last night.

But, no matter how he tried to forget, the apprentice Bookman couldn't.

All thanks to one stupid, little Psalm.

The sad little tome never did mention what the guy had done to become 'damned.'

Lavi guessed some people just don't need a reason. They just are. By birth, by circumstances, or even by another person's actions; the list went on and on.

Allen didn't deserve this. Sighing again, Lavi followed Bookman into the cafeteria, trying his best to look like he hadn't just been up all night.

He didn't succeed.

"Lavi," Lenalee greeted him from her spot next to the human food-vacuum with white hair. "What happened to you?"

"Insomnia." He answered, sitting down on Allen's other side as Bookman went to get his own food. He placed his elbow on the fine oak-wood table and propped his head up with his arm.

"Rn't 'ou 'oing oo 'ave 're-fas?" Allen asked through his scrambled eggs and ham, showing no signs of any late night activity.

Lavi stared at him. He blinked. The red head slowly opened his mouth and said: "What?"

Swallowing most the the food down, Allen said repeated his question with greater clarity. "Aren't you going to have Breakfast?"

Lavi shook his head in a 'no.'

Allen went back to his feast, little bits of his meal flying in different directions, as if the scrambled eggs were trying to run away from him.

Lavi would never cease to be amazed, and slightly sicked, by the sight of Allen eating.

The red head spoke a bit with Lenalee as he tried to get over the events of last night. Allen seemed content with pretending the moment had never happened, and Lavi was happy to oblige him.

Now, if he could only get his brain to compromise.

'My only friend is darkness.'

No one had abandoned Allen. Yet. At least ... no one that mattered had begun treating Allen any differently. A majority of the exorcists even tried to cheer Allen up whenever they were in the building, and not out, gone on a mission.

Well, Kanda didn't, but that samurai's attitude was something they all dealt with, not just Allen.

But, Lavi couldn't help but wonder. What Allen was going to become wasn't public knowledge. The only rumors that were going around were of Allen's supposed 'heresy charge.'

And, even with only that, quite a few of the scientists were avoiding the exorcist, and a few Finders as well. But, they were the ones that didn't really know Allen to begin with, so it wasn't that much of a loss.

But the numbers did tend to seem scary every once and a while. Those that didn't really know Allen outnumbered those that did, especially since quite a few of the ones that had known Allen had died ...

"-vi, Lavi!" Lenalee was saying, snapping the Junior Bookman out of his half-thinking half-sleeping doze.

"Wha'?" He asked, blinking.

"I was just asking if you knew about what Inspector Levier was doing to the Science Section." The girl said, looking a little worried.

"Ah, sorry. I'm really out of it this morning. What's Mr. bushy-mustache doing to the Science Section?"

Lenalee didn't smile at the nick-name Lavi had personally given Levier, and that was a bad sign in itself. "He's dividing it into three."

"What?!" Was the reaction both Lavi and Allen had, though Allen's 'what' came out as more of a 'fwha?!'

Lavi knew the poor Section was small, and was wondering how they could possibly divide such a little number of people.

Lenalee nodded. "I know. And they're bringing in a lot of new people from Central to fill in most of the new Sections."

Great. More strangers to point and gape at the 'heretic.' A quick glance at Allen told Lavi that the boy was thinking along the same lines, as the white-haired Exorcist was eating more slowly, eyes glued to his plate.

"And there are going to be two new Section Leaders besides Reever," The girl continued quietly.

"Mm-hmm," Lavi hummed. "And why do we need two new Sections?"

A glance, almost missed, was shot in Allen's direction, before switching back to her empty plate. "I don't know. My brother wouldn't tell me ..." Lenalee's word trailed off into silence.

Lavi knew just as well as she did why there were more scientists in HQ, and why they were from Central.

The more people that came from Central, would be more people listening to the 'Inspector' instead of the 'Supervisor.'

And once the Inspector got a majority truly loyal to whatever he said, and not just the unsure lot they had now, he would be the one in control.

Complete control.

How many times have I seen things like this happen? Lavi asked himself. Ten? Twenty times? A battle for power like this isn't uncommon in war. Heck, battles like this are the reason for war!

The Bookman listed the logical course of events in his mind:

First, Inspector Malcom would get the majority of the population 'loyal' to him, instead of Komui.

Second, he would enforce that loyalty by giving orders. Simple, at first. Harmless, at first. Then, he would test their 'devotion' by asking them to ... 'weed-out' those that didn't agree with the 'right' way.

And then the real battle would begin. Certain Finders, Scientists, and even the Civilian staff like cooks and nurses would begin to be fired for weak reasons.

After a while, they won't even bother to give reasons at all.

Maybe, those he couldn't fire, like those higher up in the food chain, would start to disappear ...

At that point, the Order would be Malcom's, and those that had once even dared to go against him would be gone, and the rest to scared to do anything other that follow orders.

Hmph. Pretty simple.

And stage one was already in play ...

"See you guys later," Lenalee said, getting up. "I have to get Reever and everyone else their morning coffee, or they won't last very long."

Lavi waved good-bye half heartedly, and Allen said some garbled farewell, but using smiles that tasted stale on their own faces.

And then, it was just them.

With the girl gone, the table seemed just a little less lively. There was no excuse to act innocent anymore. The very atmosphere seemed to tense slightly.

Lavi glanced at Allen, only to find the boy looking back. For a moment, they shared a moment of sad companionship, both knowing what was doomed to happen next, before Lavi got up quickly and left.

The red head mumbled something about some documents before walking away.

The red-head felt that if he just started walking, going somewhere, doing something, he could escape the thoughts that echoed in his head.

For some reason, Lavi felt like he had betrayed Allen in some way by leaving that table, but he tried to stifle the feelings as he went on, looking for something, anything, to take take his mind off of the calculated madness that was happening around him.

But he couldn't escape it.

Inspector Malcom was going to take over, and that would be the end of that.

It would be the end ... of a lot of things.

With a groan to himself, Lavi rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. He really didn't want to go to the Library, there were too many people there. And he couldn't go back to the Cafeteria, Bookman was there, and he had just left Allen in a vain attempt to escape what was happening.

Where could he go ... ?

Some place quiet. Someplace secluded.

A memory tingled at the back of his head, of a Library he had yet to look over. Of a Library that had walls of books and a very high chance of quiet solitude.

A place a Noah had made ... though he didn't know which.

The Library in the Ark ...

AN: Yeah ... short yet again. I'm doing this in small jumps, so that the plot can't run away from me, and so I can get feedback ... (And because I'm still working on my 'main' fanfic)

Speaking of feedback, there is a POLL going on. Go to my profile page to vote, please, as it effects the future of this fic.

The main question is, to pair or not to pair.

Review and vote please!

-knux33