Heh…heeey guys….. I know that this chapter took WAAAAY too long to get out, but I was working at the fair (afternoon/night shift, oh joy)! Yes, I know, I know, how did I get a job? On top of that, I had a music camp to attend to, and school that's just starting, and I'm sick… Anyways, I finally have some free time now so I'm cramming this! I also realized now that… I haven't been doing disclaimers…oops. I'll have to fix that…

Disclaimer: I do NOT own -man, it owns me. No, seriously, it's kind of scary…

/ A crowd of strangers gathered around the humiliated boy that was currently sprawled messily on the cold sidewalk. Rather than embarrassment, an angry blush sheeted the young child's face, as his elder partner walked up to him and kneeled down, in order to maintain small eye contact with him.

"Allen? Are you alright?" Mana asked as he patted Allen's back for comfort.

An angry tear escaped the fallen child's fierce gray eyes, as he pushed himself up onto one elbow. "No! I'm not alright! I keep messing up! At this point we'll never get enough money for food or anything!" Allen abruptly sat up and balled his hair in frustration.

"Oh, come on, cheer up Allen! We have plenty of time to perfect the act and make money! For now, I just want you to be careful, that could've really hurt if you hadn't corrected your fall at the last minute!" A harsh sympathy was glazed over his voice, as he wagged a finger in front of the seething boy.

The crowd slowly dispersed, as some dropped a few coins into an upside-down top hat. Before the youngest performer had lost his balance, the two had been executing a practically flawless act that consisted of mind-knotting illusions, juggling the most unimaginable things – usually at 6 or more at a time - , and spectacular acrobatic feats, that put any normal circus to shame – and they were just street performers!

One of the particularly amazing stunts, which had the younger actor balancing on a tight rope that had been tied between two far-apart trees, while he was rolling on a small rubber ball that teetered dangerously near the falling point of the rope, the performer had accidently gone too fast and ended up tripping over his own feet and landing rather harshly on the freezing ground.

"But, I fall every time! Why do you have to be so good at it?!" Allen childishly crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head towards the dissipating audience.

Mana clicked his tongue, much like a mother would to a child who had been naughty, and patted the pouter's hair. "Now, now, is that any way to treat the man who's going to buy you a giant meal?" Mana put on another one of his constant smiles as Allen curiously turned his head back around, forgetting that he had been, not ten seconds ago, moping.

"I'm gonna get a meal? Like a big one? With huge lobsters, steak, and cake, with some- " Allen began listing off about every single food imaginable as Mana interrupted him with a pinch to the cheek.

"Does it look like I have that much money? Just because I said 'giant' doesn't mean I can sell out every single restaurant in the town! But don't you worry; I'll make sure you're not hungry today!" He picked the boy up from his spot that he had fallen into and placed him onto his back.

"Um, but Mana… Why...? You said so yourself, we don't have the money…" Allen had ignored the fact that he had just listed off hundreds of foods he had expected Mana to pay for.

With the question, the adult's smile grew about twice as large as he stuck his hat back onto his head. "Well, because! In about two hours' time, it will be exactly one year since I adopted you! That means it'll be your birthday! Happy birthday… son."

xX-Xx-xX-Xx-xX-Xx-xX-Xx

Komui stared blankly at the window in his office and after what seemed like ages, he brought the phone back onto its holder. His eyes were wide in either shock or confusion.

Lenalee stared at her brother as she leant forward on the chair that she had been lounging in. She had been talking to her over-protective brother when the phone rang. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, really, but Komui had a naturally loud voice and she couldn't help but notice that Kanda was on the other end of the conversation.

"Brother? What did Kanda want?" The girl slowly asked him after they spent a while in quietness as Komui was clearly contemplating something. Rather than question how she knew it was Kanda, the man lifted his eyes and tried to put the short conversation into words.

"Kanda… He-he said… Allen was in trouble…? I need to go to the hospital…?" Lenalee's face showed the same confusion that laced her brother's.

Before needing any more time to try and guess at the meaning of the short, abrupt conversation, Komui stood up and grabbed his car keys. The teen girl followed his actions as she picked up her dark green and black backpack and placed it loosely onto her back.

She continued to follow her older brother as he power-walked to his car and unlocked the doors.

"Komui? Are we going to see Allen?" Though she already knew the answer, she just wanted verbal confirmation.

With only a mere nod of his head Lenalee got her answer. Then, when Komui grabbed his black beret and placed it down, Lenalee knew, he was dead serious about helping Allen.

xX-Xx-xX-Xx-xX-Xx-xX-Xx

Allen was completely lost as he followed his doctor, Bak, down another hallway. He was fairly certain that the interior of the hospital changed itself every time he blinked.

Just as he was trying to remember the exact location of the employee's lounge, another wave of pain swept through him. He tried his best but he couldn't help the small pained gasp that had wriggled its way through his tightly pressed lips.

"Hang on Allen, we're almost there. I'll get you the medicine in no time." Bak calmly stated as couldn't help but feel slightly bad for the injured boy.

'No, I have to do this! No sympathy. This is my job. You know why you have to do this!'

Knowing he was near the lounge, and also knowing what would happen when he was there, the doctor grabbed Allen's shoulder. Allen shrunk at the touch.

"Don't worry, I'm just making sure you don't get lost or slowdown from the pain. It's happened." Allen was apparently too caught up in his own thoughts as he simply nodded his head in a curt reply.

Bak saw around the corner first, and what he saw made the hairs on his neck stand up in anticipation. For what he saw there – or rather who he saw there – was his boss, the man that had put this plan together, Malcom C. Rouvelier

Allen was still unaware of the man who stood waiting in front of an unknown door as he followed Bak, but couldn't help but feel the tense atmosphere that seemingly resonated off of the walls. Something about the sudden change made Allen pull his injured limb closer to his body.

And then he saw it. He saw the man from years ago who had ruined his childhood from as soon as he could remember. Allen's blood ran from his face and he tried to stop except for the arm that now gripped much harsher onto his shoulders that dragged him further towards Malcom.

Allen struggled but his efforts were futile. Malcom's face turned into a sickly sweet smile, that made Allen's knees go weak, forcing his captor, Bak, to practically carry the resisting teen.

"Allen Walker, how long's it been? I've been waiting for you." That voice. That voice. Allen fought to keep his composure but he was absolutely sure the old man could see the fear, by the way his smile turned slightly sadistic.

"U-uh, Doc-doctor Bak, I-I think I'll be going home now, s-since my work today is ov-over." The stuttering betrayed Allen's will to stay strong but he couldn't care less about that now as Bak brought him to a standstill, right next to Malcom.

The fear finally got to Allen. He snapped.

Thrashing his right arm around in an attempt to release himself from Bak, the panicked boy yelled.

"Stop! Get me away from him! Bak, let go! Stop!" A few tears slipped out of his tightly sealed eyes, and the blonde haired doctor felt a few more sudden pangs of guilt.

'Get a hold of yourself! You need to do this! This is not an option! You know what happen if you don't follow his instructions!' Bak tried to right his thoughts to finishing his job.

" Pull yourself together!" Rouvelier walked straight up to the struggling boy and mercilessly slapped his cheek. The skin quickly grew red as Allen immediately stopped flailing with his right arm still raised, and stood still with wide eyes, trying to process what was happening.

Before Allen could try to unfreeze himself, Malcom had firmly gripped his left arm – his broken one – with Bak holding the right, as they pulled a still-shocked Allen into the lounge and into an unfamiliar meeting room.

There was a large table with roughly fifteen seats evenly distributed around it. The younger culprit released the boy's arm as he pulled out a single chair while the eldest more or less pushed Allen into it. Whether out of defeat or only silent and reserved retribution, the boy lowered his head, as his white bangs curtained his shadowed eyes.

"Mr. Walker, I need you to cooperate if you don't want this to be… too… painful." Rouvelier malevolently proposed, with the 'too' promising pain to come in the near future.

Allen promptly made eye contact with his "doctor". He had thought that a glimpse of remorse had flashed across the young man's features, but it was nearly impossible to tell for sure with the pain and fear making him irrational and delusional.

Bak felt his defenses weaking under the pitiful gaze, and his face ever-so-slightly softened to where he allowed an 'I'm sorry' to form on his lips. Though no sound came out, it was easily distinguishable what the young doctor was trying to express.

Allen was confused whether to be happy about the fact that remnants of the doctor he had gotten to know in the short amount of time was still there, or disgusted that he dared to even apologize whilst continuing the situation.

Situation... Situation? What was the situation? Deciding to tune out the fierce glares shot at him like bullets from a rather furious Malcom, Allen retreated into the quiet safety of his mind. His mind that was filled with that one question: 'What is going on?' Obviously this shadow from his past wanted something from him. But what? And why was the supposedly good Dr. Bak doing as his lackey?

Before the secluded boy could dissect the topic of his misfortune any further, a harsh slap to his face brought him hurtling back to his nightmarish reality outside of his safe zone.

"Dammit boy! You will listen to me when I talk to you!" As if to prove his point, the man released Allen's arm only to fist the collar of the boy's shirt and rattle it with ferocity.

The gentle option of submission crept into Allen's irrational consciousness. And he obeyed. "W-what do you want, you b-bastard?" The injured boy uncharacteristically swore, though the still-present trembling took away a bit of the intended spite. Rouvelier released his shirt only to grab hold of his arm yet again.

The young doctor had spared another sympathetic glance and this time he voiced his concern. "Allen please don't make this harder than it need to be. I'm just d-" he thought twice before finishing that. He wasn't entirely sure what Allen would do if he had told him the rest of his statement. Even if he hadn't stopped himself, his boss would have.

Bak's little speech was so graciously rewarded with a soul-searing glare from his white-haired captive. Well, what did he expect him to do?

It then appeared that Allen's submission was short-lived and that he had now commenced somewhat of a stare-down; Allen, the young helpless captive, against Rouvelier and Bak, the two sadistic evil men.

Unfortunately yet inevitably, the young helpless captive lost his concentration when Malcom roughly yanked on the limb held in his grasp. With a pained yelp, the boy lost balance and his chair toppled to the carpeted floor. Unfortunately for the person that sat on said chair, he was still being held by his captives. Put him in a very uncomfortable position. With his legs and hips laying on the floor and his two arms raised above his head where a furious Rouvelier and confused Bak stood.

Apparently they saw the boy's clumsiness as an attempted escape. Which his captives didn't respond very well to… With another harsh pull, Allen was back on his feet and cringing in withheld pain. Malcom, no questions asked, raised his free hand, and slammed it, once more, into Allen's abused face. "Boy if you ever pull another stunt like that, I swear you'll be begging to live back with your old master Cross."

This struck Allen almost like a physical blow. How did this man know of his master Cross. And how did he know the… conditions that Cross put him through? There was just no way…

As if reading the boy's mind, the older man smirked. "Oh yes, I know all about your 'Master'. I find it quite… interesting too. I never thought that that old drunk would ever even consider taking on a child. Much less a mutant freak like yourself."

Just then, the sound of a door being whammed open, filled the conference room. Immediately, all three of the room's occupants stared at the entrance to the meeting area, and were relieved to find that the tall grey door remained shut.

Then what door was opened?

Malcom had put it together first and had realized non-too-soon that the opened door was that of the one connecting the Employee's lounge to the long hallways in the hospital. He instantly straightened himself up and glared harshly at Bak. " I thought you said you closed the door, Bak." His deep voice was level, but that had scared Allen and the accused doctor even more.

"I-I thought I did sir! My apologies! I'll go deal with whoever it is!" A then Bak was gone, closing the door behind him to make sure that the visitor didn't know that anyone else was there.

Though there was no way to tell for sure who it was yet, Rouvelier was almost positive who the intruder was. And he had already formulated a plan.

xX-Xx-xX-Xx-xX-Xx-xX-Xx

Komui ran into the hospital faster than he's had to run in a very long time. Lenalee had opted to stay in the waiting room, as she didn't want to slow her older brother down if something bad really was going to happen to her new good friend Allen.

The adult ran down the unfamiliar corridors, hoping to find something to remind him of where he was going. Although he had been there just two days ago, he couldn't for the life of him remember where anything was. On top of that, Kanda hadn't even specified where Allen would be! Komui found the front desk a good place to start, but the strict-looking old lady working there had informed him that "Allen Walker was not in his room at the current time."

Komui vaguely remembered the white-haired teen telling him that he'd be working at the hospital in order to pay off the bill, so he figured he could try asking another employee. As it turned out, the cafeteria was just down the hall. He strode up to the counter and found a darker skinned man with purple hair.

"You don't happen to know an Allen Walker, do you?" Slightly breathless form his speed walker, Komui leaned on the table for support.

"Ooh~! That cutie putootie! Of course I know of him!" The man smiled and waved his hand in little circles as if to emphasize his point.

"Great, great. Do you know where he is?" Komui couldn't help but tap his fingers impatiently against the counter-top.

The chef put an appreciative finger against his lower lip as he hummed. "Hmm… Nope! Can't say I do! Sorry 'bout that hun!"

But Komui didn't even hear him, because a soon as he hear the "nope" he ran back into the stretching halls. Next place to go: employee's lounge. There's bound to be tons of workers there.

So he stalked the doors until he saw that one of them had a sign over it that claimed the room to employees. He had found the employee's lounge. Fantastic.

Before knocking or anything, Komui barged into the room. The first thing he saw was Kanda, seemingly sleeping on the old blue couch. Now the principal juts knew something was incredibly wrong. He quickly checked the Japanese teen's heartbeat, and was relieved to find that it was going steady and strong. Deciding to check up on Kanda further later, Komui continued to comb the room for anything.

He frantically searched the room to see if Allen had left a bag or anything of the sort in the room. Maybe the boy had his cellphone on him? Yeah, he would be so lucky…

Just as he was nearing the door once again, a young blond haired man clothed in a white doctors' jacket emerged from yet another door that Komui had missed in his not-so-thorough investigation.

"Ah, hello? You're the man that checked Allen in, am I right?" The doctor who Komui now remembered to be called Bak, called out to him.

"You're Allen's doctor!" The dark haired adult blurted out in his surprise. "Ah, I mean, do you know where Allen is? I heard from someone that he's in trouble and I really need to talk to him right away!" Komui reached up to adjust his beret, as he usually did out of habit when he was nervous or impatient, only to find that he had forgot it in his car before he rushed out in his frantic search.

A look, gone too fast to have been caught by the black-haired adult, showed absolute terror in Bak's blue eyes. This man knew. He knew that Allen was in trouble. He may not know that Bak was one of the main captors, but he knew. This was not good.

So he stalled. "Oh my! I'll go make a call and see if I can pinpoint Mr. Walker's whereabouts! Please excuse me for a second."

But Komui was having none of it. As the young doctor turned to enter the same room he had first appeared from, the other adult followed. Bak stopped in front of the door though. He couldn't let Komui see Malcom holding a bruised up Allen captive in there. "Oh, there's really no need for you to come in with me. I'm just making a boring ol' call. No big deal, really!" He threw up both of his hands to show how harmless the act would be.

"I just want to know what you say on the call. Plus if someone you call knows where the boy is, then I want to be the first to hear." Komui's eyes were defiant, as if nothing could stop him.

Just as Bak was about to protest further, Komui walked past him and flung the door open.

What he saw made him freeze.

There, crumpled in a heap, was a bruised Allen. His silvery eyes were shut and his head lay against his arms. He was definitely unconscious. Komui ran to Allen's side and quickly checked him over for anything serious. Finding nothing too bad, he turned his head to glare furiously at the man sitting next to the unconscious boy.

"What the hell did you do to him?!" Komui got up and fisted the older man's shirt collar. He was not about to let anyone who injured Allen get off easy. Allen was the closest thing Komui had to a son.

"I did nothing." The man leaned back and folded his hand over his belly as a smirk painted his wrinkled face.

"You're lying! If you didn't do this than who did?!"

"I merely found the boy. Although I do know one thing…"

The man smirk turned into a full-blown grin as he sat up straight.

"The boy groaned out the name 'Cross' before he collapsed."