Lavi glared at yet another group of guards that stood watch over his cell. They were sending these harsh looks his way as if he was gum on the bottom of their shoes, the filthiest creature to crawl out of the sewers and walk the Earth; they were looking at him like he was disgusting. It was getting on his nerves and making him want to punch their lights out.

Ever since he had been brought back to the Black Order Maximum Security Prison, there had not been a single moment in time when Lavi was unsupervised. When he was sleeping, when he was eating and most especially when he was awake and idle, which was often.

He was no longer allowed to leave his cell at all. He was brought all of his meals (which were delivered carefully as if he would spring up and stage another prison break) and he ate them inside his cell. He had apparently lost the privilege of time outside in the yard and eating in the prison cafeteria.

He hadn't eaten with the other prisoners since he got back which, he had to admit, was probably for the best as even his fellow prisoners hated his guts at the moment. Apparently, other criminals felt they had the right to judge him saying things like "I would never do what you did" even though Lavi highly doubted that was true in many cases. Please.

It's not like it mattered to him though other than irritation and annoyance. It only furthered his point that people are stupid and each individual life is meaningless. He had been thinking about his life and his past actions a lot since he got back to the prison. It was funny, he thought, how deeply to heart he had taken his grandfather's teachings even though he hated the man. He hated him enough to kill him.

But did he really hate him? Truly, in the black hole he considered his heart that he thought empty until he met Allen, did he hate the man? Was that really the reason behind why he killed his grandfather as Lavi had thought his whole life?

He had always thought he did, that the old git meant nothing to him, but if that were true then why was he still in Lavi's mind after all these years? He loved to analyze himself and others as a form of entertainment, but he always steered away from thoughts of the old man himself. It was a touchy subject. Why was it touchy? He could think or talk about torturing and killing people like it was nothing because it was nothing to him even though he knew normal people would feel otherwise.

All these years and I never realized, Lavi thought to himself. All of the lessons and books. Those tiring days and sleepless nights all for the sake of knowing everything. Lavi had known that he resented his grandfather for making him the way he was; unable to trust people or even view them as anything of worth. His grandfather had made him that way by design so that he would be held back by emotions, but not having them was then Lavi's cross to bare.

But not matter how much he studied or how much he knew, his grandfather always looked down on him. His "friends", his actions, the way he talked or spent his time; no matter what he did, he was never good enough.

It's an inferiority complex. Lavi belatedly realized. I could never impress him or make him happy. I worked myself to the bone, if he didn't do it for me, and it was never enough. I resented him, but I also felt inferior to him. His grandfather made him feel inferior every waking minute of every day. Try as he must, he could simply not measure up.

That's the driving reason behind why he did it. Killing his grandfather was the only way out of the painful cycle of loathing he had been forced into by his old man. Yet, even after all this time, he still had the same complex as before, he was just able to forget about it. He didn't have the stern old man breathing up his neck (A/N: Get it? Short joke) reminding him about his uselessness. Without the reminder, he was able to feel comfortable as he was or he could most of the time, anyway. He could forget he was useless.

Even after all this time and he's still in my head. Lavi let out a groan. His opinion always did mean a lot to me. I could be so proud and yet so deflated a moment later just by being dismissed by him.

But that was the past, Lavi realized. The past can never be just the past. It will always affect the future, but the present is what Lavi has always cared about more. And that was Allen. , Wonderful, beautiful, kind, funny, perfect Allen. Allen would now forever be his past. present and future.

Lavi had to admit, he felt strictly like a creep. A hardened criminal obsessing on some kid on the outside definitely sounds like a lot of horror movies Lavi had seen. He did think about Allen constantly. The only difference was that Lavi had said kid's best interests at heart. Allen was the only person in the world who he could never forgive himself if he hurt.

It was late at night and Lavi was starting to go to sleep. The night shift guards were standing watch over him again. For someone who hurts anyone and trusts no one, he was definitely uncomfortable with being unconscious while guards who have it in for him watch on. Then a panic erupted. A group of guards ran past the ones watching Lavi.

"What's going on?" One of the guards asked the group.

One of the guards in the group stopped a second to give a hasty answer. "There's some crazy guy on the premises waving a gun around and threatening to shoot up the prison!" And then he ran after the other guards. After a moment of sharing stunned looks with each other, the guards that were left behind quickly followed the rest, leaving Lavi unattended.

Lavi regarded this sleepily but with mild curiosity. A crazy guy with a gun? He would have to be crazy to threaten something like that and to announce it, too. I wonder if he's trying to break a friend out of prison? With all those guards after him, he'll be caught in no time and these guys don't take threats lightly.

A few minutes passed by and a loud ruckus could be heard from somewhere in the prison. Lavi's eyelids grew heavy and he ebbed gently closer and closer to sleep. He was barely hanging on to consciousness when he heard a steel-like tapping. Now, this wouldn't have caught his attention when he was this sleepy except for the proximity. It was right outside his cell.

Lavi forced his eyes open and was met with a sight he was only recently able to see in his dreams. Allen Walker, standing in all his glory right outside of Lavi's prison cell. Why? Lavi hadn't the faintest idea, but it wasn't the most surprising thing about seeing him. The most surprising thing by far was seeing Allen opening his cell door with a key.

"A-Allen?! What are you doing here?" Lavi cried.

Allen glanced at him, exasperatedly, as he unlocked the cell door. "What's it look like? I'm breaking you out."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT, ALLEN!" Lavi cried so loud, Allen had to cover his ears. "I didn't put myself in prison so that you could yourself in danger to get me out!"

"Then why did you?" Allen glared at him.

"You weren't going to let go so I had to do it for you! You deserved more than I can give you!" Lavi yelled at him, anger swelling inside the red headed teenager's body. When he looked at Allen, though, the anger immediately dissipated as he saw the tears spilling from the younger boy's eyes.

Allen cried, wiping the tears from his cheeks. "Idiot! What more do I need than your love?" At this, Lavi was silent for he did not know the answer to that. "No one can love me like you do! All I need is you!"

Lavi's heart sped up and swelled with even more love for the boy in front of him. "Oh, Allen..." Lavi mumbled, his voice apologetic. Lavi reached forward and half dragged the boy towards him as Allen practically fell into him. Lavi wrapped his arms around the boy, pushing Allen's face into his chest and resting his head on Allen's.

"I'm still mad at you." Allen whimpered. He was trying to still be mad, but he was too overwhelmed being with him again to be anything but thankful.

Knowing this, Lavi just whispered "I know".

"Don't leave me again." Allen said more firmly.

"I won't." Lavi whispered, pressed up against him. "I won't leave again. Ever."

The two stayed like that a while longer before multiple rounds of bullets were heard firing from somewhere in the prison. The two drew slightly away from each other and looked at each other's faces.

"Is the 'crazy guy blowing up the prison' with you?" Lavi asked, curiously.

"Yeah. He's kind of my father. Adopted father, actually. He's helping us escape."

"I can see that." Lavi smirked. "He must be an interesting guy. It's not many fathers that would aid their son in breaking a convict out of prison."

"I think he's trying to get rid of me." Allen smiled up at him.

"Well," Lavi said quietly, leaning down to kiss on Allen on the lips. "I guess we should help him with that."

"Yeah." Allen breathed.

The two finally came apart and they took off into the prison to find the way out. "Uh, Allen? You're going the wrong way. They brought me in that way." Lavi mentioned, pointing in the direction opposite of where Allen was going.

Allen turned back, incredibly flustered. "Maybe you should lead..." Allen said sullenly and moved to take Lavi's hand like a child. Lavi didn't mind one bit and squeezed his lover's hand, pulling him along.

Farther down the expanse of hallways, they ran into a guard. No, quite literally. One of the guards had been in the area and saw the prison uniform Lavi was wearing. He yelled at them to stop and grabbed at his gun, but Lavi was too fast and rushed him.

Allen watched in amazement as Lavi ran at such a speed and tackled the guard to the ground. While the guard was still reeling from shock, Lavi wasted no time in locating the man's weapons (i.e. gun, taser, baton) and relieving him of them. Lavi jumped back up and away from the collapsed guard, creating some very useful distance between them.

The guard tried to get up, but Lavi was going to have none of that. He pointed the gun at the man after attaching the other weapons to his hip. The man that had been energetically trying to pull himself up now froze completely still as he heard the familiar clicking of his gun's safety being released.

"Now," Lavi said in a heavily sadistic voice, sounding to Allen much like he did the first day they met. "You don't want to die here and I don't want to waste time killing someone so do as I say and you can see your family tonight." His words, tone and facial expression left no doubt with either Allen or the downed guard that Lavi would do it if his needs were not met.

Lavi then made the guard give him his keys and proceeded to lock him in a nearby cell. Moving on, the two went through many empty corridors, all of the prison guards having been drawn away already. Thanks to Lavi's excellent memory, the two weaved their way through the prison (being seen only by prisoners in their cells who called out hoping to be broken out too, but were, of course, ignored).

They found themselves at the end of a room at the end of which was a door that Lavi said lead outside to the loading docks behind the prison. As they advanced towards it, Lavi mentally noted that the prison suddenly seemed almost quiet. Just as that thought occurred to him, they heard a group of guards running up behind them, all armed with their weapons out and ready.

Seems someone finally noticed I was gone. Lavi noted sardonically.

"Stop right there!" The guards ordered (even though both Lavi and Allen had already stopped and turned around at their approach), stopping as well and pointing their guns at the boys.

There had been few times in his life when Lavi had no idea what to do and he always hated it. Lavi's exterior was it's usual calm, unfeeling monotone, but inside he was hysterical. Right then he and Allen had no chance of getting to the door before the guards fired and if he let them take him, they might think that Allen is with him and take his love too.

More than anything, Lavi didn't want anything to happen to Allen. That thought fried Lavi's brain and tripped up any rational thoughts he may have had. Through the haze of his mind, Lavi felt the hand he forgot he was holding gently squeeze his own. Discreetly looking over at Allen in surprise, their eyes met. Allen looked at him with a soft but determined gaze and Lavi, with an inquisitive one. A silent communication passed between them.

"Just like before?" Lavi whispered to Allen, making sure the guards who were quickly losing their patience didn't hear.

"Just like before." Allen answered, smiling in reassurance, letting Lavi know that it was okay to do it.

"Together then." Lavi whispered in a passionate tone.

"Put your hands up!" The lead guard yelled, almost cutting off Lavi's whispered words.

Sending the guard a deadly glare, Lavi pulled sharply on the hand he was holding. In the span of a second, Allen's back was pressed hard up against his chest (which Lavi tried not to get hot about) and Lavi had his gun out and pointed at the group of guards before them. Though the gun wasn't pointed at Allen, it seemed to have the same effect, the guard's faces a mixture of shock and fear.

"Shoot and the kid dies." Lavi's voice took on a more menacing tone.

"W-what are you doing?" One of the braver guards asked. "I-isn't he with you?"

Lavi let out a low chuckle that sent a shiver down Allen's spine and although the guards would neither show nor admit it, they felt it too. "With me?" Another chuckle. "A sweet kid like this wouldn't be caught dead with a sicko like me. Right?"

As he asked that, he jostled Allen a little to signal that he was addressing the boy rather than the guards. Allen, trying to do his part for the charade, adopted a more fearful look and shook his head up and down in haste as if to pacify the older boy.

The guard's somber expressions seemed to darken as they realized that an innocent person could get hurt. "Let the boy go." The guard who seemed to be the leader, said.

How many times have I heard that line by now? Lavi mused while, outwardly, he said "Not a chance. You're going to let me go if you know what's good for him." And, hugging Allen tight against his chest (and close to his heart), Lavi began inching backwards towards the door to the outside.

The guards watched helplessly as the two moved slowly towards freedom, step-by-step, Lavi never once taking his eyes off the guards or moving his finger from the trigger. To the two lovers, it seemed like forever before Lavi's back met the door even if it was only about thirty seconds. On the other side of that thin piece of wood, was freedom, but it wasn't over yet.

To open the door, Lavi would not only have to look away from the guards and turn his back on them, but he would also have to use of of his hands to open it, releasing either Allen or the gun. The guards would be waiting for that moment so they could take advantage and capture them both. Lavi wasn't going to let that happen.

Lavi shifted his gun hand back towards the door, acting as if he was going to open the door attempt to make a run for it; the action being so he could catch them off guard. With lightening fast reflexes, Lavi brought his gun back forward, aimed it and started firing into the midst of the onlooking prison guards.

Unprepared for an attack, the guards were slow to react and fire their own weapons. They scattered, some ducking for cover in fear of being shot. Lavi, however, was neither aiming to wound or kill nor was he looking for a long, drawn out fight. Taking advantage of the confusion, Allen and Lavi, holding each other's hands tightly, tore open the the door and got through the doorway before anyone could stop them.

The couple sprinted across the parking area at top speed without stopping and never looked back. Some of the guards who were more on the ball recovered fast and took to blindly shooting out through the doorway hoping to hit him, but because they didn't take the time to aim, the hail of bullets narrowly missed the two boys who were quickly gaining distance making it even harder to hit them.

The guard who seemed to be the more seasoned of the group and one of those who took cover when Lavi started shooting, began ordering the guards who were shooting to stop. "Stop! It's too dangerous! You could hit the hostage!"

The firing did stop, but the boys didn't stop running. Some of the guards chased after them while the others sounded the prison alarm. The ones in pursuit wouldn't be able to catch up, though. Lavi would make sure of that and he would never go back and leave Allen alone again.

Epilogue

"I ordered this medium rare!" Lavi cried angrily, standing up from his seat in a diner.

"Please, sir! I thought you said well done! I'll get you another one just please sit down!" His poor waiter tried desperately to placate him.

"Forget it! I don't want your garbage! Why would I eat at a place that can't even get an order right? Honey! We're leaving!"

Allen, hearing this, calmly walked over from his position by the cash register and got his things. Lavi also grabbed his backpack and jacket from where he'd thrown them on the floor and, taking his boyfriend's hand in his, made a hasty retreat, his agitation and frustration palpable. THe waiter was left staring at the door and at a loss of what to do.

Once out in the parking lot, Lavi let his facade drop. He and Allen both broke out in riotous laughter in relief that everything had gone as planned. Lavi slung a hand around Allen shoulders and cuddled him close, proud of his little lover.

"You were right, Lavi! That was really easy!" Allen cried, happily cuddling into the older boy.

"I told you it would be." Lavi chuckled. "The servers were paying so much attention to me, they never noticed you opening up the register."

"Yeah. They didn't even care that I was over there unsupervised." Allen smiled. He was glad that Lavi could find a use for him. He had wanted to be able to contribute to maintaining their way of survival. After all, he wouldn't feel right letting Lavi do all the work on his own.

"That's because you're so cute and innocent and you look every bit of it. No one thinks that someone so adorable could steal." Lavi flirted. Allen blushed heavily at the praise and smiled his sweet smile that always lit Lavi's skin on fire. "So how much did we get?"

"Nearly a thousand dollars, Lavi! There was a lot in the register." Allen smiled, proudly; he had grabbed all of it.

Lavi smiled even wider. "That's great, Allen! If we use it right, that amount will last us for a while!"

"And we've almost got enough money for two one way tickets! Are you sure you don't mind going to England?" Allen asked, an unsure look crossing his features.

"No problem!" Lavi laughed, ruffling Allen's silvery hair. "Wales sounds like a great place to settle down. No one would find us there, either."

"And then we won't have to steal anymore. We can get jobs and a house and be normal." Allen looked off dreamily into the distance. "Unless you want to." Allen added, refocusing on Lavi. He had long ago gotten comfortable with Lavi's habits.

Lavi pretended to look thoughtful before responding. "No, I think I'm good. Let's build a life together." Lavi stopped walking and Allen stopped with him. Turning his young lover to face him, Lavi leaned down so that their lips could brush against each other's.

"I'm going to give you your stable life, Allen." Lavi's voice was filled with determination.

"I look forward to it." Allen responded, happier than he had ever thought he could be. He leaned up, bringing his lips to Lavi's and the two shared a passionate kiss filled with love and devotion.