This here is a secret brainfart I have had =3 It is a -Man fic, inspired by the latest chapter, chapter 204 (which, might I add, made me bite my nails XD) It's manga-centered, without Allen being imprisoned for the belief of being in league with the Earl.

XD I got Rhode's song stuck in my head XD Why is it so catchy? T^T

Phlyx: Geez, I barely get any screentime, save for when you introduce a new fic! *Is somewhat pissed* But whatever! Warnings: Umm... blood/gore scenes (if they show up, cuz she hasn't written the whole fic yet), maybe some character bashing (Mouhahaha Lenalee bashing! 8D), aaand... An-Chan does not own -Man! ^w^ The aweshum pershon named Hoshino Katsura ish the prawd owna of eet.

Pairing: AllenXRhode (And yes, I do spell Rhode's name like so, just because I find it looks better than the other spelling, Road.)

Summary: "When the time comes, who will you choose? The Order, or the Noah?" Running from the Order is never easy...

Rating: T, Because this one will stay clean (if it can) and other than some violence and all, I see no reason to put it to M =3

This will be a multi-chapter story =3

HAUNTED

It was hard to tell why I ran, because I didn't quite know that myself. But I felt as if something was wrong, I had to try, I had to find out. That's the thought I fuelled myself with when uncertainty crowded my mind.

Everywhere I looked, something was wrong. That shadow behind me in my reflection seemed to grow more defined, and for some reason, I grew less afraid of it. But all the people around me made everything seem… odd. Like for once, I didn't belong.

Eventually, after a few nights of searching, I could tell what I was running after. I sat on the edge of the bed of the hotel, and I knew in my mind who I was running after. And I didn't know how, but I knew that something was wrong with her.

On the sixth day, mid-afternoon, when I saw him walk into one of the taller, cheaper hotels, my suspicion grew. People barely gave me a second glance now – I did not wear the Order's coat on my back – and I knew for a fact that nothing out of the ordinary was about, because I knew, almost as well as something was wrong with her, that he was out searching for her too. And he also had his suspicions.

I followed the redhead up the stairs some ways away, keeping far enough to be out of sight, but close enough to follow him. He walked to a door at the end of the hallway of the sixth floor, a light beige door with the lights on the other side creeping out through the crack underneath the door. When he walked in, I stayed just outside to listen in.

"She's waking up." A voice I've known for a while says, a rather old voice, really. Some rustling reaches my ears, the clinking of bottles, and a slight, almost soundless yelp. A thud finalizes the moment.

"We need to keep her sedated until the High Generals get here." Another familiar voice says, a female one. "They can do with her what they want."

"It makes you wonder why they didn't just use Allen Walker for a Noah to test on." The old voice says again.

"Old panda!" Another thud, followed by a complaint. My hands tightens on my knees, both hidden behind white gloves. I frown to the carpet beneath my feet.

"Lavi's right." The female voice says gently. "Allen's our friend, and he's an Exorcist. They can't just force him into the Noah state; he can't even go into it at will-"

I knock lightly on the door, having gotten to my feet before doing just that. Their voices die down, footsteps making their way to the door. A lock is clicked out of place, and the door opened. I offer a smile.

"Speak of the devil! What'cha doing here beansprout?" Lavi asks with a grin, motioning for me to get in. He closes the door behind me.

"It's Allen!" I snap. "I saw you walk by, so I thought I'd…" I'd been looking around the room as I spoke, and I let my sentence hang in the air as I find her sitting with her back against the wall, a little slumped over, but the grey skin and the black hair really isn't mistakable. Her wrists are tied together, as are her feet, and she almost seems passed out. She lifts her head up wearily as she hears me speak, golden eyes meeting mine.

"Um… why is Rhode here?" I ask, but the bound wrists and ankles kind of give it away. I keep looking at her, and even though she seems about ready to pass out, she does the same.

"Because the Order has issued a command that Exorcists are to try and capture a Noah, so that they can… find a way to eradicate them. Ever since finding out Rhode didn't die when Lavi attacked her with a Fire Seal, they've been trying to find another way to beat them." Lenalee says, sitting on the arm of a couch in the room. "The High Generals are supposed to come in two days' time for her."

"Hey, Allen…" Lavi starts as he see's the look in my eyes. "We know it might be a little hard to think of that idea, but… it was either that, or use you as a crash dummy. I prefer the first option."

"You all hate us anyways." Rhode murmurs, aiming it at Lavi and turning away so that he won't even catch her words on her lips.

"What with you… kind 'a being related to them and all." Lenalee adds, none of them having heard her words. I nod blankly.

I can't really help myself; I kneel beside Rhode and she looks at me – the air is heavy behind me, as if they're wondering what I'll do – with a question in her eyes. I look back over my shoulder to them.

"Can I talk to her… for a minute?" I ask. They nod, but make no move to leave. "Um… alone?" Silently, they leave, but I know they won't be far, and they'll listen. Nowadays, they don't trust me much, and I'm surprised no one attacked me yet.

"Hey, Rhode." She looks at me again, and I notice her wrists are pretty bloody from struggling against the restraints. "How'd you end up captured, eh?"

"I was asleep." She mutters almost resentfully. "I don't know how they found me, but they drugged me. I've had to live in this place with their yapping for five days!" She makes a face now. "I'm loosing my mind! And I can't even use the ark to escape because I can't open a gate!"

I laugh a moment at her angry face, earning a look.

"Sorry." I smile, subtly undoing the knot that bounds her wrists. "I didn't mean to laugh."

"What're you doing her, anyways?" She asks, some of her normal childish demeanour back in her voice. I shrug, now unwinding the rope from around her wrists, making sure to keep it quiet.

"I was around." I say simply, jerking at the knot at her ankles, trying to keep quiet about it. Which is why covering the sound up with our voices is a good idea. "Honestly, I'm surprised the Earl didn't find you yet."

"He's busy." She sticks out her tongue, crossing her arms wrapped in those dark ribbons over her chest. I give one last pull, the rope falling to the ground loosely. She rubs some feeling back into her ankles, while I look back behind me. I mouth the words keep talking at her, so she does, covering up my whispers of my next words.

"I'll open a gate into the ark," I start in a low voice. "Then I'll close it, opening another gate somewhere else."

Now I speak to cover up her next words, as if our conversation isn't like this.

"Why are you helping me?" Rhode asks. "Aren't you one of them?"

Again, we switch roles.

"I'm on no one's side." I say lowly, standing up. She limps a little as she does the same. "I don't believe in this war."

She nods, and continues to speak as I open the gate, the melody playing in my head, glancing at the door. Eventually, just as I step through, Lavi knocks.

"Beansprout?" He asks. I push Rhode through, into the ark, quickly fumbling on closing it when I'm through; I hear the door opening when it does disappear, and a muffled 'They're gone!' from that side. I walk to the first door, one marked with a number 15, which leads someplace a little more well-known to me. The village where Mana died. And I close that gate, too. Only then do I take a deep breath, leaning on the wall behind me.

Rhode sits down on the ground beside me, rubbing her ankles with her hands, which don't even show signs of having been bound anymore.

"Exorcists really are desperate." She makes a face. "Going all the way as to thinking of making you go into your Noah just to find out how to kill us. And what if you'd been the heart? What would have been of their precious little 'Holy Order' now?"

"Not much, actually." I admit, sliding on my back to the floor beside her. "When I last went, everything was hectic. The new headquarters are fine and all, but people are worried about the Noah… and about whether not I'm on their side."

"Well, you're not." She points out. I nod.

"Because I can't kill you guys." I say. "But I'm not on yours too, because I can't kill them, either."

"Allen." She starts flatly, looking at me with eyes that seem to say 'you're an idiot.' "The fourteenth rarely killed."

"Really? Then what'd he do?" I ask.

"The fourteenth was a Destroyer, but a great listener. It's a reason why he could control the first Ark. He was somehow always able to find out just what the Exorcists were going to do next, which gave us an advantage." She pauses a moment. "But there were times when he had to kill. And he hated it… he never liked war."

"Then… why'd he leave?" She shrugs at my question.

"Only he really knows." She stands up, somehow suddenly full of energy. She grabs me by my right hand and pulls me up. "C'mon! I want daddy to see you!" I give her a strange look, but she just runs off, so I follow before my arm should be ripped off.

I will say this right now - the first moments with the Noah almost killed me, and I'm not lying.

Rhode pulls me along through a hallway, which has dark walls with some light here and there, and is also completely empty, no sign of inhabitance other than the lights present. There really isn't much to look at, and it's also rather short, so almost as soon as I look to the other wall she comes up to a double door, pulling on the handle of one of them, making the door squeal in slight protest. She pulls me through the door, not bothering to close it as she stops somewhat near a few Noahs, some of which I recognize, some of which I don't. I notice Tyki Mikk (A.N.: Thank -Man Wiki for the names! I now know the fourteenth's name! XD) among the four Noahs, as well as Jasdero and Devito. But the fourth one is a blank to me.

"What'd you drag back with you this time, Rhode?" The unknown Noah asks, eyeing me. Tyki takes one look at me and begins to laugh - and I mean the hysterical kind, clutching his sides. Devito glares my way.

"You still owe us that debt, Cross' apprentice!" He snaps at me.

"Will you just let that go?" I snap back.

"Daddy, see?" Rhode says joyfully, while both Jasdero and Devito complain at me, so I barely hear her words. "I found Allen~"

"Looks to me like you dragged him out of some sort of rut." Tyki manages between his laughter. I glare his way.

And, let's not forget that other Noah that I don't know.

My name seems to trigger something - doesn't help as Rhode hugs me, I think, making me ask her just what she's doing - because he swipes Devito's gun and aims it at my head. Devito turns all his attention to him, jumping on him to get it back.

"Don't mind him." Tyki says, laughter dying away a little. "Sheril's always temperamental when anyone get's close to Rhode." He rolls his eyes now, gesturing his hand to the three Noahs fighting it out for a toy gun - Jasdero joined the fight, just for kicks I think.

"He's overprotective." She pouts, still holding herself to my side for some reason. "Allen wouldn't hurt me."

"That out of the way," Sheril pushes Devito off of him, glaring his way. "Isn't this kid an Exorcist?"

"On the run." I scratch the back of my head, smiling uneasily. "I can't really go back there..." I look to the wall, remembering Bookman's words.

"It makes you wonder why they didn't just use Allen Walker for a Noah to test on..."

"Because they were going to test on him to find a way to kill us!" Rhode says, after I'd missed a question that Sheril'd asked. "They'd kind 'a captured me somehow, and Allen'd been looking for me. He's the one who helped me out."

"So you mean to tell me that this beansprout-" He ignores my interjection at yelling, like I usually do when I'm called like that, 'It's Allen' "-inherited Neah Walker's Will?"

"Surprising, isn't it?" Tyki says with a smirk, leaning back on his chair. "He's really frightening if you try to get on his bad side."

Why did I find, though, that the name Neah Walker was familiar to me?

"Aw Tyki, don't be mean!" Rhode chides, laughing. And still, she's stuck against my left side like superglue. "Allen's not that bad!"

"Tell me again why the Earl wanted him on our side?" Sheril asks with a heavy sigh, making Devito and Jasdero snort in protest, but remain silent.

"I have no clue." Tyki sighs. "Rhode, go play with your new toy or something instead of just standing there." He waves her off with his hand, pointing a finger to me when he says 'new toy.'

"Wait, what?" But once again Rhode pulls me along somewhere, so I can't really have a say, can I?

Well, since I'm on a slump on my other fics, and this idea was rotting inside my skull, I decided to just post up the first chapter, see what you guys think, and if it's good, I'll continue it on Spring Break (WHICH IS HUR!) But I've been home sick from school for, what, three, four weeks now? I've barely been there this month, which sucks royally. But meh, I'm going to the Hospital on Tuesday to have my plaques looked at - which I have more now D=

Hey, did you guys notice that just about all my Fics so far are titled after a song? Paper Moon is a song, Fall Into Your Sunlight, How To Save A Life, Last Cross (Ultima Traversa, Italian for said song, mostly because the Anime/Manga has some Italian themes), Missing (Missing the Hikari) are also all songs XD And this one is named after an Evanescence song, Haunted XD (I've recently dug up my old obsession for Evanescence XD)

Hope you liked XD

EDIT!: I had to edit Neah Walker's role, since I just found out he was the Noah of Destruction. Which, might I say, is accorate, since Hevlaska's prophecy about Allen is him being a "Destroyer of Time." I'm actually starting to think that Allen will be the one to cause the Earl's Scene.