Just a note: please read this with a... Clean, mind; It is not yaoi! Also, Allen is about 11, maybe 12, but I was going for 11. :3

The young boy stared into the darkness. What he was contemplating was crazy, but he had to...Who else could he go to? He made sure nothing was hiding in the dark as he slipped out of bed and rushed to the door, and out into the hall he went. Windows lit the corridor with moonlight, but Allen still thought the night scary...

He had had a nightmare. While he had nightmares often, they weren't this scary... This one had been terrible, and he just couldn't stay alone in the dark any longer... He wished it was Mana he was going to, but reality was far from that, and he quickly discarded the thought, as even though the trauma of killing his akuma-turned father was over a year ago in his memories, it still brought pain.

He walked hesitantly down the hall; while he had never went inside, he knew which door it was... As he approached the seemingly looming door, a chill went down his spine at what might happen should his master catch him... The risk was so high, Allen thought about going back to his room, but when he turned around, he thought one of the shadows had moved, and turned back around to open the door...

...Which Allen smiled at, as the door had miraculously made no sound; maybe he'd get away with it.

He slipped inside and shut the door with the same satisfaction, but once again had a chill; his master was intimidating, even in his sleep... As Allen adjusted to the darkness, feeling safer in the General's presence, he noticed his master sleeping on the left side of the bed, and decided to sleep on the farthest right side of the bed; he went up to the right side, and pulled down the cover just enough for him to slip underneath it.

He had laid there only a few moments, when he was blinded. After a few minutes, his eyes had adjusted to the now brightly lit environment, and he saw his master standing by the bedside, frantically putting on a pair of pants; he was turned away from Allen, so he couldn't tell if he was angry or not... And Allen blushed from embarrassment while his heartbeat sped; of course now, after he had climbed into the bed, did he remember his master slept naked to tan when he woke...

Allen was stirred from his thoughts as his master turned around,'ALLEN! YOU COULD HAVE WOKE ME UP! HONESTL-'

But, Cross Marian was cut short, as Allen began crying,'I-I'm sorry! I had a nightmare, and my room was dark, and I saw stuff moving in the shadows, and I couldn't stay alone any longer, and I don't know anyone else here except you, and...' At this point, Timcanpy, who had been snuggled between the two pillows at the head of the bed, crawled to Allen and nuzzled him, though Allen seemed to take no comfort, and kept crying.

As Cross was about to scold Allen, as he had subsided his crying slightly, he noticed something.

...Allen had a dirt smudge on his face. And Cross couldn't stand for his apprentice to be dirty. Especially when he was about to sleep in the same bed as him. Instead of scolding Allen for climbing into his bed, he changed the subject...

'YOU'RE FILTHY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!' Allen opened his eyes (as he had closed them as he was crying) and looked at his master in confusion... While he knew his master didn't like filthy people, well, filthy men...How could he be angrier at some dirt than Allen having the audacity to sleep with him?

Cross turned away from his apprentice to keep from waking the whole house, when Allen heard him mutter something to him,'...if you take a bath.'

'W-what was that, Master?' Allen asked at hearing what he thought he had.

'YOU CAN STAY IF YOU TAKE A BATH!' Cross was furious now, and didn't care if Allen was frightened or if he woke everyone; before his little idiot apprentice could process what he had screamed, he grabbed him by his collar, and pulled him into the adjoining bathroom. He slammed the door and Allen flinched, still in his grasp. He let go and started drawing a bath; Allen backed into the corner and shivered as he thought of what his master might do... Surely his master wouldn't drown him...

After a few minutes of arguing, kicking and screaming on Allen's part, and tugging on Allen's clothes, Cross finally got Allen in the bath and washed him.

Cross' temper had subsided as quickly as it had come, and he stared down at Allen, who couldn't help but nod off, as he had tired himself from his efforts to protest. He dried Allen off, and redressed him... And, at this point, Allen had almost fallen completely asleep. Seeing the boy couldn't walk back himself, Cross picked Allen up*, and held him in the air in front of his face to see how asleep the boy was... and seeing Allen was enough asleep that if he did wake, he wouldn't understand what was happening, and fall right back asleep, Cross hugged his apprentice to him, with a smile he couldn't explain across his face.

He walked back into the bedroom, and pulled the covers down on the bed. He gently laid Allen in the middle of the bed, and the boy automatically curled into a ball; Cross slipped in beside him, and turned the lights off. As he settled in and laid on his side, he unconsciously put his arm around Allen, and pulled him closer; he noticed what he had done, but before he could pull away, Allen had brought Cross' hand to his face to nuzzle it, and had embraced his arm, before falling back to sleep. Sensing Allen had a smile on his face, once again Cross smiled an unexplained smile, pulled his little idiot apprentice closer, and fell asleep with the expression.

Timcanpy nuzzled back between the pillows, and watched the two sleep peacefully, while occupying himself otherwise by nibbling on a loose piece of Cross' hair.

So, the two slept, as Master and Idiot Apprentice, but also as Cross and His Allen.

Cross, the Father, and His Allen, the Son.

*Allen is very short in stature, even in the current manga, I believe (do correct me if I'm wrong! :3), so while Allen is 11/12 here, he is probably much smaller than he 'should' be, due to probable malnutrition being raised in the streets and the circus during most his childhood (once again, correct me if I'm wrong! :3). Him being smaller than usual makes me imagine Cross being able to pick him up and coddle him like a young(er) child. :3