So I've been decking out some more lately just cuz I feel like it... I should be doing my summer home work though cuz I've got a hell of a lot with AP and Honors classes… god Freshman year hasn't even started and I'm suuuper buzy with lots stuff… aaanyway there are some sort of OCs here but no Mary-Sue's I assure you... I don't write those… just some people I made up from Allen's past with Mana… and maybe one dude who'll hit on Lenalee… but the guys will set him straight… Also, I reallyneed a better title for this because well... Former Family sucks

"For this mission, you'll have to be undercover," Komui stated plainly as Lenalee, Lavi , Bakanda and I sat in front of him. "The people you'll be dealing with aren't exactly friends of the Order, but there have been many akuma sightings and rumors of mysterious happenings."

"We assume it's Innocence right?" Lenalee tilted her head slightly.

"Of course. I will have the four of you travel to the town and investigate."

"Ne, but why do all four of us have to go?" Lavi leaned back into the couch.

"People have been known to go missing around a certain area with what we suspect are level three akumas, we'll need all four of you to go." His serious look changed to a hopelessly worried one. "What would I have done if my dearest Lenalee had gotten hurt?" Everyone sweat dropped at that. "Anyway," Komui reverted to his normal state, "the town you will be traveling to is a small place in the outskirt of London. There we have heard that a traveling circus has come to town. Rumors say they are part of the disappearances, you must try to befriend them without revealing your identity as an exorcist." I felt an odd sensation at the mention of a circus.

'Mana' I thought.

"You'll leave for the mission first thing in the morning," was the last thing Komui said before we left the supervisor's office.

'Mana!' I ran into my adoptive father's arms. 'Do we have to leave already?'

'Yes, I'm sorry Allen, but we cannot stay here any longer.' He ruffled my hair as I pouted.

'But I liked it here.' I said with my lips sticking out.

'Me too, Allen, me too.' His comforting face blurred and the scene changed.

'Allen, wait!' Mana yelled to me 'Allen!'

BAM! I saw red and pieces of wood flying through the air 'Mana?' my voice trembled. Something heavy was on top of me. A red wetness dripped onto my forehead. Was I bleeding? 'Mana?' I called again. Suddenly there was a large commotion around me. Someone had screamed. It was me. I had seen the bloody mess laying over me. 'MANA!'

"Gah!" I woke with a thin layer of sweat gleaming over my skin. I hugged my legs and whispered his name. "Mana" I changed into my signature white dress shirt, red ribbon and black pants. As I left my room, I slipped on my uniform jacket and made my way to meet up with the others.

"Yo, Allen-chan!" Lavi hooked an arm around my shoulders. "You ready to go?"

"Hey Lavi, yeah I am," I smiled brightly at him. Lenalee was just arriving and Kanda was leaning against the wall with his ever present scowl.

"Everyone here?" Lenalee asked and I nodded. "Oh, Allen?"

"Yes?" I smiled at her softly.

"Um, your uniform. You can't wear it on the mission remember?" I looked at the other three and realized they were wearing normal clothing.

"Oh! T-that's right! I forgot." I slipped off my jacket and stuffed it into my bag, laughing nervously.

"Che. Idiot Moyashi." The raven haired samurai muttered just loud enough for us to hear.

"Shut up Bakanda! Your girly hair will draw enough attention to blow our cover!" (A/N: ehm sorry for the lame comeback, I couldn't think of anything else at the moment.) I growled.

"So will your old man hair! I better slice it all off!" He drew Mugen threateningly.

"Now, now Yuu-chaaan, be nice to Moyashi-chaaan." Lavi smiled goofily.

"Don't call me that!" The samurai and I yelled in unison before glaring at each other again. Thonk! Lenalee had kicked us both hard in the head causing us to fall to the ground.

"Geez, you two can't stop fighting for two seconds can you?" She sighed. "Let's just leave already!"

"Alright then, let's go." I recited the lyrics in my head and the door to the ark appeared. I led the group through the white doors of the ark, walking at a quick pace. I glanced to the side to see a dark figure looming over my reflection. For a split second I glared at it with pure hatred before resuming my forward gaze. Finally, we had reached our destination and we found ourselves a little ways out from a small town. "This must be it." I said plainly.

"Let's go!" Lavi cheered and began running with my arm in tow, the rest of my body dragging through the dirt. The dust and dirt collected up in my hair, making it a cakey, mud brown.

"There it is!" Lenalee exclaimed. "I see the circus tent!" I shuddered, unable to see it as I was dragged, but just remembering those days gave me the chills.

"Up we go!" Lavi pulled me up from the ground and plopped me on my feet with a small "Hup!"

"Ugh, my mouth tastes like dirt." I groaned, then felt my hair. "Ugh I'm covered in dirt!"

"Haha! At least people won't stare at you for having white hair anymore! You're a brunette!" Lavi crackled hysterically. Lenalee and I sweat dropped, that wasn't that funny. "Ne, what kind of beansprout is he now Yuu-chan? He's not white like a moyashi anymore!"

"Che, shut up, Baka usagi" Yuu-c- I mean, Kanda growled.

"Come on you guys, let's just find our way down to the circus," She half smile half pouted, a hand on her hip. "After that we can go to an Inn so Allen can wash up."

"I think it's a good disguise!" Lavi swung his arms around me. "Brunette is more common than white you know."

"Yes Lavi, I think we all know that." I chuckled quietly. Soon enough we were approaching the entrance of the large tent. Something about it gave me an odd feeling. Not quite a bad one, almost nostalgic and eerie, but when I saw the picture on the flap of the door, I stopped dead. There was no way. The picture was very old and was dirty but I could make out an image of two clowns, one tall adult in his fat clown costume and a small and skinny little boy, they were smiling as they juggled. I tore my eyes from the picture and wiped away my thoughts of the past. It was impossible, those clowns could have been anybody.

"Yo, Allen!" I looked over to see the rest of my group almost half way into the tent. I quickly ran after them. "Wonder where we could find some people." The ring was desolate and empty, dust particles were visible in the rays of light that shown through the tent. Sounds of the circus flooded my head, I couldn't tell what was real or not, pins juggled through the air, a woman feeding her tiger, two children folding their limbs back and forth. And a clown, permanently smiling. A piercing saddened smile, filled with loneliness and loss.

'No,' I thought, staring at my hands which were trembling. "No, no ,no" I whispered.

"Allen?" Lenalee put a hand on my shoulder. "Allen, are you alright?" Violet eyes filled with worry.

"NO!" I opened my eyes wide as plates, gripping the sides of my head. I ran at top speed. My voice cracked as I sobbed. In my blind running, I began to feel wetness on my cheeks. It was raining. No, I was crying. "STOP!" I cried. Suddenly I ran into a large object whom I bounced off the large belly of.

"Oi, you bloody kid, watch where you're goin'," Grip gripped my knees as I lay crumpled on the ground. The voice sounded familiar but I didn't care. Uncontrollably, a word slipped from my mouth. It was quiet, but loud enough for the man to just barely hear. He stared at me with hard and confused eyes. "Oi, kid?" The man shouted at me. "Oi!" He called again. This time he kicked my side and shouted. "OI YOU BLOODY LITTLE RUNT!" Those words triggered a switch in my memory. I slowly uncurled myself to get a look at the man.

"Bern, Wot're you doin'?" A tall woman, in her late forties approached. Her hips were slightly wide and her chest was also large in a motherly way. Her petite, yet strong hands rested on her side, the other carrying a paper bag of groceries. "You're not beatin' some poor lit'l' kid are you?" The heavy accents were southing to my ears, it had been a long time since I had heard that. The woman bent down on her knees to get a better look at me.

"Annabell, this isn't just any kid." Bern's low voice was gravely and rough, but underneath was a hidden kindness that rarely showed through.

"It can't be," She whispered in astonishment, her eyes glistened with tears at the corners. Slowly, she lifted her hand towards me, she hesitated, then gently caressed my cheek. "Allen my dearest." She sighed before pulling me into a tight motherly hug. "My sweet little Allen!" Unconsciously, I hugged her back, digging my head into her shoulder.

"Annabell!" I sobbed, tears beginning to flow freely down my cheeks. "Annabell, I've missed you!" The once rich caramel colored hair that flowed from her ponytail was now slightly dull and had bits of gray in it. Her sparkly brown eyes had small lines from stress and age appearing, but she was the same woman Allen knew.

"It's been years Allen!" She rubbed circles in my back. " 'ow have you been? Have you been gettin' 'nough food? Have you been hidin' work? How long are you stayin'? Will you been joinin' us again? How long has it been since you've stayed in a real bed?" She was bombarding me with so many questions that I could only laugh. She held my shoulder and took a good look at me, unfortunately my face was caked in dirt and it was impossible to see very much of me at all. The entire left side of my face was coated in mud, so my scar wasn't visible. "You're bloody filthy! Where's Mana? Let's get you into a bath!" She smiled brightly, but I couldn't.

"M-mana." My eyes crinkled and I felt as though I had shrunk from the entire world. Annabell and Bern became blurry and distant figures as they called my name. My mind flashed to a bloody scene and wood flying. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorray." My accent began to creep into my speech. I choked on my own words. "Mana," I sobbed "Mana!" It was my entire fault that he was gone. I had taken him away from someone who loved him. Someone he could have had a family with. They would surely hate me.

"Shush, shush," She said softly, pulling me close to her again. "It's a'right Allen," she ran her fingers through my muddy hair. "It's ok, my child." Her strong but kind motherly touch was so soothing. She had been the closest thing I ever had to a mother. I had forgotten how strong she really was until she easily lifted me up, carrying me like an over sized baby. Maybe that's what I was at the time being.

"Allen!" I heard Lenalee call as she ran towards me with Lavi and Kanda close behind. Even without the use of her dark boots she was a good runner.

"Ne, Moyashi-chan," Lavi waved madly at me. "You alright?"

"Looks like you've finally made some friends your own age, huh?" Annabell smiled as she set me onto my feet. "And obviously," She smack the side of my head harshly. "You havenotbeen eating enough!" She shouted at me. "Look at you! You're short and skinny and don't weight nearly as much as you should!" She began smacking my head again in between each word. "You!" Smack "Must!" Smack "EAT!" My entire group sweat dropped at the thought of me eating more than I already do.

"Yeah, yeah, Annabell I do eat!" I groaned as my friends approached.

"Allen you ran off so quickly! We're sorry, we shouldn't have brought you somewhere that would stir up so many old memories." Lenalee smiled sympathetically.

"It quite awright actually," Lenalee just smiled, rubbing my head where Annabell had hit me.

"And who might this pretty young lady be?" Annabell leaned in towards Lenalee. "Your girlfriend?"

"Ah! Annabell!" Both Lenalee and I blushed. I thanked god that Komui wasn't there to hear this, I would have been in deep trouble just for thinking about it.

-Back at the Order-

"My Lenalee radar senses something!" Komui jumped up from under the pile of papers he was laying under.

"Get back to work ,supervisor." Reever called out boredly.

-Back with the Exorcists-

"Um guys, this is Annabell and Bern." I held my hand in front of them sheepishly. "W-when Mana and I were traveling to different circuses; we came to their circus the most. It was sort of like our home."

"And little Allen wos my baby!" Annabell hugged me in a death grip. "I was just like a mother to you, wasn't I!"

I smiled, it was a real smile. Not the plastic ones I put up so that people wouldn't worry. A true genuine smile. "Yes, you really were the closest thing I ever had to a mother." I could feel her warmth radiate around me as she gripped my shoulders. It seems my teammates saw my smile as well and Lenalee and Lavi were smiling like proud parents. "Oh, and these," I jumped out of Annabell's hug and hopped over to where my team mates were standing. "Are my friends, Lenalee Lee,"

Lenalee bowed her head politely and said "It's nice to meet you."

"Lavi Bookman." Lavi waved with a goofy grin. "And Yuu Kanda." And of course, being the ass he was, Kanda said nothing.

"God Allen, you look like crap!" Lavi laughed.

"Oi! It's your bloody fault for draggin' me through the mud!" I yelled playfully at the red head.

"Ne, ne what's up with your accent?" He said before pulling at my cheek.

"Ith moy rewl asthent!" (Translation: It's my real accent.) I moved away from Lavi's hand before saying, "This is how I normally speak but to fit in with everyone else I just don't use it."

"Aw, well I think it's cute. Don't you think so too, Yuu-chan?" Lavi tilted his head back happily.

"Che, Don't fucking call me that, damn baka usagi!" Kanda slashed at said bunny with lightning speed, missing him by a hair.

"Calm down you two!" Lenalee brought her all knowing hands down on the teens' head with a loud smack!

"I'm glad to see you've made some friends your own age finally." Annabell ruffled my hair only to have her hand coated in dirt.

"They're a…" Bern paused to think, "…a lively bunch."

"Hehe yeah they are." I sweat-dropped and scratched my head.

"Now now, enough talk! Why don't we make our way back to the cast tent? I'm sure there will be people excited to see you Allen!" Annabell wiped her hand on the side of her brown pants. "Ugh anyways, you need a bath! Whoot, have you been rolling in mud?"

"It's all Lavi's fault," I mumbled.

Um... I really don't know why in the world the text is so small... weird... anyway Thank you zenophobia for betaing for me!... woah whats up with the font size?