It was strange to have a physical body again; it was so solid, so concrete. How long had it been since he last felt something? The mattress was soft and warm with his own body heat. The bed frames were smooth and cold to touch. As his eyes adjusted to the dark room, the Fourteenth raised his left hand, scrutinizing its color and texture. It looked so delicate that he could hardly believe it was capable of activating into an akuma weapon.

A knock on the door caught his attention. "Come in," he called, sitting up on the creaky bed.

It was the odd man with the funny dots on his forehead. "It's about time for breakfast, Mr. Fourteenth." Link narrowed his eyes as the Noah before him stretched his dark limbs.

"Excuse me while I change into something more appropriate for public appearances."

Without a word, Link closed the door. The Noah always made him feel uncomfortable in his own skin. It was uncanny how his dark eyes seemed to read half his thoughts with a single glance.

"Good morning," a dressed Fourteenth announced as he entered the cafeteria. His tall top hat almost concealed what markings his hair failed to, but the cross shapes were still unmistakably present.

It was unsurprising to Lavi that—despite how vast the dining hall was—the Noah managed to silence it with two words. To his left, Lenalee had to receive a nudge from Johnny to remember to breathe.

All eyes followed the Fourteenth as he made his way to Jerry. "Hello, Mr. Cook. The usual, please." Honestly, how did Allen live with this constant hunger? He didn't know if it was even possible to satisfy it.

"By 'the usual', you mean Allen's order…" Jerry muttered, shuffling to prepare the meal for an extremely unwelcome customer.

Finding a solitary seat—which was only too easy—to set his food, the Fourteenth could barely finish his first bite when a flustered Komui scrambled into the room.

"Allen!" Grimacing at his blunder, Komui corrected himself. "Fourteenth."

"Yes, Supervisor?" The Noah wasted no time in hurrying obediently to Komui's side.

"Go to the Ark. A few members are planning a riot again. Hide there until things die down a bit."

The Fourteenth's dark eyes widened, not with fear, but amusement. "With all due respect, Sir, Noahs are not known for running away. Especially from—ahem—humans."

Komui couldn't tell if the Noah had made any effort to suppress the arrogance in his tone; if he had, it wasn't very well done. "It's for the safety of the Order. We can't afford injuries among our faculty."

The Fourteenth frowned. "I'm afraid that, as of now, I can't be held responsible for any casualties." He points behind Komui, and to the man's horror, a horde of angry Finders were rushing towards the dining hall doors.

"Stop!" he cried desperately, knowing full well what the protesters apparently didn't—that there was no way these people could hope to defeat a Noah.

From among the furious hollers and livid shouts, words could barely be comprehended. "He's an enemy! How can you protect him!"

Gunshots filled the air, and Komui cringed as he felt a sting in his shoulder.

"Brother!" Lenalee rushed to Komui's side, clutching his bleeding wound.

"He killed my mother!" a voice from within the mob cried. "To hell with Noahs!"

Lenalee dragged Komui back into the cafeteria as Lavi shut its doors. "This is all your damn fault." Lavi glared at the Fourteenth.

"My fault that humans are so violent?" The Fourteenth shook his head dumbly. "They just can't get over revenge, can they? I don't remember killing anybody's mother…."

Komui calmed Lenalee's trembling hands. "It's just a bullet wound. I've seen worse."

Looking up at the Noah, he continued, "We need you here because your knowledge and abilities are indispensable, even if it costs the lives of our staff. However, I'm going to take whatever measures necessary to make sure everyone lives through this."

When the unimpressed Fourteenth stared on, Komui said sternly, "So cooperate and evacuate to the Ark."

The Noah raised a dark eyebrow, crossing his arms across his chest.

"And who knows," Komui added, taking a more humble approach, "when the war ends, we can sit back as friends and have tea together…"

The Fourteenth chuckled without humor. He glared at Komui, cocking his head in the direction of the mob pounding on the heavy doors "You don't want me here anymore than the rest of them. You just want me around so you wouldn't feel like you've failed Allen. You know that he's dead, and you're keeping me alive so his death wouldn't have been for nothing."

The Fourteenth made his way to the door where a strange silence had befallen the other side. "I'm sad to say that lives have already been taken… That boy must've had plenty of blind love for his mother…"

The doors opened to reveal an akuma, disintegrated bodies littering the floor around it. "Hello, level one," the Fourteenth said regrettably. "How on this dear, sweet earth did you sneak past the Gatekeeper?"

The akuma replied with a silent growl, launching missiles from its many barrels.

With a wave of his hand, the Fourteenth summoned a Gate in front of him, absorbing the projectiles into one of the Ark's many rooms. As the first Gate disappeared, another materialized in its place. The akuma's own missiles were released from the Gate; nevertheless, they bounced off uselessly against its armor.

"Someone save this poor soul." The Noah turned to Lavi. "Please do us a quick favor and end this tragedy."

"Stay," the Fourteenth commanded the akuma as he waited for Lavi to get his act together.

"Why don't you?" Lavi asked indifferently, determined to limit himself to just a Bookman standing by as far as this Noah was concerned. "Tell it to self-destruct if you're a real Noah."

"Would Allen want that, my dear friend?" The Noah sighed patiently. "He was so heartbroken when that sister of mine murdered his precious akuma. If my host lived to save these creatures, then the least I could do is carry on his dream."

Lavi made no move to attack when he noticed the flash of a deadly blade behind the akuma.

"That beansprout was too idealistic for his own good." Kanda sheathed his Mugen before the dead akuma could even hit the ground. Shoving capsized tables aside, Kanda moved beside Komui as Johnny silently bandaged his wound.

"I think we should be a little worried, Komui." The Fourteenth took a seat next to the supervisor, tapping his lower lip as he mused over the problem. "If some pathetic Level One could get past your Gatekeeper, then I doubt a Level Four would have any difficulties hiding amongst us, too."

"Let me worry about technical issues. You just stay out of sight for the next few days." Komui ordered, massaging his temple. "So many people…dead. Just one weak little akuma…" he mumbled to himself.

"Didn't you sense it?" Lavi asked the Fourteenth accusingly. "That eye should still work, even if you are a Noah."

"I did feel its presence," the Noah admitted, "but I disregarded it because I had too much faith in the Gatekeeper."

"Allen wouldn't have taken the chance," Johnny sobbed from his seat on the ground. "He would've found the akuma before it killed so many." Drying his glasses, Johnny whispered hoarsely, "He deserved to live so much more than you do."

"I know, I know," the Noah murmured sadly, fingering the cursed scar, now white against his dark skin, "This," he traced the cross symbols across his forehead, "to all these people here, this might as well be nothing. Poor Mr. Walker is dying for nothing."

"Dying?" Lenalee spoke up suddenly, gripping a stunned Johnny for support. "Dying? He's not dead yet?"

The Fourteenth met each pair of widened eyes and Kanda's narrowed ones. "Of course not." He lifted his left arm. "Do you think this Innocence would stick around with a Noah unless its true master was still alive to hold it together?"

"But you said…" Komui couldn't even bother with hiding the broken hope in his voice.

"He might as well be dead. There is no way to reverse the progress I've made on his body." As if to prove the Noah's cruel words, a crack appeared along his black arm.

"You…you monster."

Komui stared with shock at Lenalee's atypically hateful voice.

"I hate you. I will never forgive you."

"And I will never apologize, my dear." The Noah chuckled solemnly.

"If it makes you a happier girl," the Fourteenth added with a smile, "then I have the pleasure of telling you that Allen loves you very much."

His words seemed to have cooled Lenalee's anger to a small extent. "If you want to make me the happiest girl alive, then you'd let him tell me that himself."

"I believe we all already know that that is not possible."

As he returned to his cold food, the Fourteenth commented, "There will be an end to this worthless war, Supervisor, but obviously, there will be no tea."

Okay, okay admit it. The ending is just so hilarious. It's all dark and serious, and suddenly, "NO. NO TEA!!!!" I wrote this fanfic just so I could write that last line.

Not really. =P

Okay, so idk. No Parental!CrossAllen. Just Noah!Allen. I had a deficiency in happiness and vocabulary today.