After three months, it's finally over. It was fun while it lasted. This is the best out of five different drafts.
Huge thank you goes to marufu-chan for her lovely reviews on my chapters. ;)

Tiedoll frowned as the dial tone beat out in his ear like a monotonous drum and closed his phone. He crossed his arms and looked out the window as small houses passed by. It wasn't unusual for Kanda to ignore his calls, but it was strange for him to not be home during this time. Tiedoll remembered the day that the case had been closed. Kanda came to his room covered in something dark and sticky while a mob of reporters followed him. He closed the door and sat down by Tiedoll's bed and fell asleep for hours. His eyes were dull and he seemed exhausted. All Tiedoll could do was put his hand on the boy's head and wait for him to wake up so he could tell him all about the case.

After briefing his father on the case, Kanda said he was going to take a month off to recuperate from the mental shock and the physical work. Tiedoll was expecting his son to be walking around the house or at least willing to answer his phone when Tiedoll called, but he had lost contact with Kanda after his visit. So, after asking around with a few neighbors, Tiedoll managed to find where he expected his son to be. Of course, there was a little hope that he wasn't actually there.

"This is my stop," Tiedoll said, placing a hand on the taxi driver's shoulder. He pulled the car to a stop as the old man pulled out a small bundle of money and handed it to him. "Thank you." He opened the door and stepped out, making sure he had everything with him.

The driver took off once the door was shut, and Tiedoll shoved his hands in his pockets and walked up to the door. He knocked loudly and waited. Not long after he had knocked, he heard something heavy fall to the floor and laughter. There was a long stream of curse words that followed the laughter. Tiedoll cocked his brow before the door opened and he could see Lavi with a grin on his face and two-sizes-too-big dress shirt on; blue-striped boxers poked out from beneath it.

"Oh, hey!" he greeted. "Nice to see you out of the hospital, Mr. Tiedoll! Come in." Lavi stepped out of the way as the older man took the invitation and walked in.

"Ow!" someone cried from the living room. "Dammit, Alma! Stop pulling my hair!"

Tiedoll immediately recognized the voice. Forgetting to take off his shoes, Tiedoll waltzed into the living room. Sure enough, his son was on the floor, scratches covering his feet and toes, with a cat hanging halfway off his untied hair. Kanda was struggling to pry the cat's teeth from his hair. Lavi came in behind him and just laughed.

"She still has to get used to you," he said, cheeks turning red from trying to hold back his giggling. "By the way, you have a guest!"

Kanda growled as Alma bit him and latched onto his hair again. He looked up and immediately turned into a cherry. Tiedoll's eyes looked over him. His lips were slightly swollen, there were at least six red marks over his neck and chest, and he was shirtless, wearing only thin flannel pants. Tiedoll crossed his arms, and Kanda could sense a lecture about to start.

"Lavi…" Tiedoll turned his attention to the red-head. Lavi looked at him with a clueless expression. He didn't understand what was about to happen to him until he felt the gun pressed against his chest. "I'm going to give you three seconds to convince me that you didn't give Kanda those marks…"

"Calm down, geezer," Kanda snapped. "So what if he did?"

"I'd have to kill him."

"Good luck. You just got out of the hospital. There's no way you'd be able to even pull the trigger."

"Yu, how could you let him do this to you?" Tiedoll wailed.

"That's none of your business." Kanda stood with a growling cat in his hands, holding it out at arms length as it flailed and attempted to rip his fingers off. "Lavi, will you please restrain your beast long enough for me to put my hair up?"

Lavi giggled and accepted the cat from Kanda, which relaxed in his arms and purred. Tiedoll took a seat by Kanda on the couch as Lavi fell back onto his chair and started scratching Alma's ears. The room set into an awkward air as the older man tried to piece together a sentence to start a conversation. After a few moments, he said, "So, how did this start?"

"How did what start?" Kanda asked, picking up a brush that was lying on the end table near him and pulling it through his hair.

"This." Tiedoll gestured towards the house. "I mean, why are you here?"

Kanda yanked the brush through his hair.

"I like Lavi," he replied nonchalantly, making the red-head grin and his father's jaw drop. "What's with that face? You'd think you saw a ghost walking around here."

"Are you really that surprised?" Lavi chuckled as Alma chewed on his finger. "You did say 'whatever you're doing, keep it up' in the hospital, remember? So, I did. And then went further."

"So my little Yu's no longer a virgin?"

"T-Tiedoll! Don't announce something like that aloud!" Kanda flushed a deep crimson as Lavi threw his head back and laughed.

"I don't know why, but that just amuses me!" he announced. Alma wriggled out of Lavi's lap and disappeared into the kitchen. "So, what did you come here for?" He pulled his feet off the floor and crossed his legs. The grin on his face still remained. Tiedoll looked between the two of them and sighed.

"You told me who was killing the people from the city, Yu," he started, "but you didn't tell me what happened to him after your fight. Was he sent to a mental ward or did he get the death sentence?"

Kanda and Lavi made eye-contact, and the light atmosphere immediately dissipated. Kanda stopped brushing the rat's nest out of his hair and Lavi picked at his eye patch, both frowning and avoiding looking at each other. Tiedoll cocked his brow.

"…He was killed," Lavi answered after the silence had stretched too far. "Kanda sliced his body up and other officers came and burned it. We aren't sure who called for them, but there really was no other way unless we had a stake or something." Kanda grunted in agreement and fingered at a tangle near the base of his neck.

" 'Stake?' You make it sound as if you had killed a vampire!" Tiedoll chuckled. He stopped when both men gave each other a serious look. "Don't tell me you really believe in vampires… Why are you both being quiet?"

"I'm…not sure what he was," Kanda said slowly. He looked Tiedoll in the eye. "He obviously wasn't human in the slightest…

Kanda's sword reached out and split the muscles and tissue from Larn's shoulder to his arm. Larn gripped at the gushing wound and waited as it healed, but Kanda took off his other arm. Lavi pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession, hitting his legs and chest when Kanda would step to the side. They acted together in an awkward dance, twisting and moving so that the other was sure to not get hurt.

"Allen, we have to get out of here," Road said desperately. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away, but Allen was frozen. She squeezed his arm. "Allen, come on! If we don't get out of here, we'll get killed too!"

"Master Larn…" Allen's eyes stung with hot tears that fell down from the corners. He sniffed and wiped at his eyes. Road frowned and yanked his arm harder, throwing Allen off-balance. He turned back to her and glared angrily.

"This is your fault," he seethed. "If you hadn't gotten jealous and tried to kill me…!" Allen's arm transformed again, ripping the sleeve of the newest shirt he had. Road cringed away from him, fingers curled, ready for a fight.

Larn screeched as Kanda managed to break his leg with the back of his blade, and Larn fell in a puddle of black, sticky blood. Half of his right arm had already regenerated, and Kanda took care of it by slicing it off. The weakened man could do nothing. He could barely keep his balance with his missing arms and injured legs.

"How will we kill him?" Kanda asked, holding his blade at an angle so that he was still threatening. "We can't let him continue to live. He'll just jump back up and start murdering again." Lavi shot a look towards Allen, who was currently in his own battle against Road. He didn't seem to be losing.

"Lavi!" The red-head snapped his head back towards Larn, who had raised himself up to pounce. He picked up his leg and slammed it into the man's chest. Larn gasped and fell back, coughing up more of his dark blood. "Don't take your eyes off him."

"Sorry." Lavi returned his gun to the holster on his thigh. "He keeps regenerating." Kanda slashed at the weakened man, taking off the hand that had just finished regenerating.

"Leave him to us." Both men jumped and spun around. Komui stood proudly as officers rushed past him, bowing towards the two as they attempted to apprehend the pile of messy body parts. "It's nice to see you again, Kanda, Lavi."

"Chief Komui? What are you doing here?" Lavi asked, bowing slightly. The man just smiled and waved. His eyes looked both men up and down. They were covered in the black substance and both seemed entirely disheveled. "I thought you were just a desk man."

"Most of the time." Komui grinned. "But sometimes I can come to the rescue. In this case, you two needed it." He laughed as Kanda spat something from between his teeth. Larn had regenerated mostly, so he was able to spit curse words back at the men who were trying to kill him. "I got a few complaints about screams coming from here. From the scene here, I'm guessing that you two are to blame."

"We are," Lavi admitted.

"Wait a minute." Kanda turned and looked around. "Where's the beansprout? Wasn't he around here somewhere?" Lavi perked up at Kanda's question and looked over the area.

"There was a kid involved in this too?" Komui growled and dragged his hand down his face. "Oh great. Good job, both of you."

"Oh, shut up!" Kanda shot back. "It's not our fault the brat took off!"

"You really suck as a babysitter. What is the mother going to think?"

"Would you listen to what I'm trying to say for two seconds, Komui?"

"Um, Komui, Kanda…" Lavi grabbed Kanda's shoulder. "Have you noticed that that Road girl is gone too?" Komui cocked his brow as Kanda looked around Lavi and found that both the shrimp and the girl had disappeared while they weren't looking. Lavi was panicking and Kanda almost looked relieved.

"Well, that takes a load off my shoulders," Kanda remarked. Lavi jabbed him with his elbow. "What? That kid attempted to kill me on multiple occasions; he even succeeded once."

Komui opened his mouth to interrupt the argument when a gloved hand placed itself harshly onto his shoulder. All three flinched at the snapping sound that followed. Komui turned and came face-to-face with the scariest man on Earth. He took a long drag on his cigarette and blew it into Komui's eyes, making his shut them and move away.

"C-Cross!" he scolded. "I told you not to do that in my face! My allergies…" Komui sniffed and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, wiping at his eyes and sneezing into it.

"Ah, toughen up!" Cross said with a grin, slapping Komui on his shoulder. "A little cigarette smoke hasn't killed anyone."

Lavi leaned into Kanda's ear, whispering, "I wonder if he's heard about a thing called 'cancer.'" Kanda shrugged.

"Tell me, Komui…" Cross' eyes narrowed and he pulled something from behind his back. "How careless are you getting that you let one of your suspects trying to run away from the scene of the crime?" He squeezed the shoulder of the person beside him. It was Allen, face ashen and eyes wide with terror. He looked as if he was shaking. All three felt sorry for him.

"Wh-Why would you say he's a suspect, Cross?" Komui asked with a nervous smile.

"When did he even get here?" Kanda asked rhetorically. Lavi shrugged.

"Explain this black gunk he's covered in." Cross tugged at Allen's shirt. "Not to mention I caught him with the 'deer-in-headlights' expression. He's obviously guilty of something."

Allen tried to slink away from Cross, but the man had a firm grip and would occasionally send him a sharp look, making the young half-breed stop in his tracks.

"He's not guilty of anything," Lavi stated quickly, catching Cross' attention. "He just happened to come here while we were taking care of Lar… of that thing." Lavi cleared his throat.

"Then explain to me, red-head, why he's covered in this."

"I can't explain everything," Lavi said with a grin.

"And about this 'Road' girl you were telling me about…"

"That's nothing!" Lavi held his hands up in front of him. Cross narrowed his eyes at the red-head before turning to Komui.

"Mind if I steal the kid?" he asked. "I'm looking for an apprentice anyways."

"Please help me…," Allen muttered.

"Y-You can't just take him away," Komui said slowly. "There's a lot of paperwork to go through."

"See you later, Komui."

"C-Cross! Wait a minute!" The chief growled something Lenalee would have been ashamed to hear and took off after the long-haired officer. Allen had started crying and begged for someone to save him Kanda and Lavi both stood where they were in shock before Lavi slung his arm around Kanda's shoulders.

"So, where you wanna eat?" he asked with a wide-set grin. Kanda gave him an incredulous look. "What? You promised…"

"I just want to sleep." Kanda didn't bother shrugging Lavi off him.

"You can come back to my place." Lavi lifted his only visible brow. Kanda bit the inside of his lip and sighed heavily, massaging his temples.

"No, I want to go to the hospital," Kanda said. "I want to see Tiedoll."

"…And then one thing led to another," Kanda explained to Tiedoll, who looked slightly dumbstruck. "I'm moving in with Lavi next week."

"Yay!" Lavi cheered.

"…What ever happened to Allen?" Tiedoll asked.

"He's with Cross; God knows what that man's done to him by now." Lavi frowned. "We haven't seen him since Cross took off with Komui chasing after him. Knowing Cross, that kid's probably gotten killed for that man's debts by now."

Tiedoll looked at both of them and laughed. Kanda jumped. After he stopped giggling, Tiedoll managed to start talking. "I'm glad for both of you!" he said. "Just watch what you do while I'm around, Lavi." Tiedoll put his arm around Kanda and the smaller male gave him a look.

"Stop doting, you old geezer." Kanda yelped and picked his leg up from the floor. Alma was hanging off with her claws and teeth sunk into his foot. Lavi grinned as Kanda muttered something profane and attempted to pry the evil cat off him.

…It was BLSatisfaction's idea to name the cat Alma. "It'd explain why the cat hates him so much!" Indeed it does.