Hai guys :3 So this is my first black butler fic, I just finished watching the anime and am now reading the manga and I am in love 3 particularly with Grell and Undertaker, for obvious reasons. So, please be gentle, I really hope you all enjoy it, I already have the first six chapters written so I will be updating regularly.

Sadly, I do not own black butler or any of its characters. Maybe that is a good thing though xD

Enjoy!

It had been a truly awful day..

Grell Sutcliff thought, in the past, that he had experienced what one would call a bad day. Long days at work, arguments with Will, painful battles that left even worse scars, he'd experienced it all. But nothing could ever compare with that day.

He wandered aimlessly through the snow-covered streets of London in a bit of a shock-like state. He had none of his usual enthusiasm; he was completely blank, his green eyes dull and staring straight ahead. He moved forward mechanically, like a robot, or a zombie. For anyone who knew Grell, the sight would have been very unsettling.

The sky above him was dark, the frigid wind whipping around him viciously. He was faintly spattered with dark red blood and his pale skin was marred by bruises. He shivered violently, his vision beginning to blur a bit; the temperature was rapidly dropping and he was rapidly deteriorating. He stumbled and fell forward, having no strength left to cling to. His body gave out, his mind already long gone. He curled up on his side, his shivering had stopped and his skin was turning slightly blue. This is how I die. He closed his eyes, and everything around him faded to black, then to bright crimson; the color he'd always loved so, how ironic that it would mock him as he took his final breath.

It was much later that Grell was astonished to find he was still alive. Well, maybe not alive, but in existence. Odd, he knew he had no soul and there was no afterlife for him; had he been wrong?

He listened hard, because that was about all he could do at the moment. He couldn't sense his body, so he wasn't sure if he still had it. But he felt warm and very comfortable. He couldn't remember a thing; what had happened that had led him to be in this state? Was he murdered in his sleep? He racked his brain but kept coming up empty. For several minutes there was no sound at all, just silence, and he was about to drift out again when an oddly familiar voice, one that sent a jolt through him and gave him a small sense of feeling in his chest, gaining the realization that he was indeed still alive. He stayed perfectly still and focused on the soft voice.

"Ah, young Earl, to what do I owe this pleasure? Finally ready for your fitting?"

"No, I assure you I am quite alright as I am."

Another voice, this one familiar as well. The next one that spoke brought even more realization back to him, almost too much, for he could sense that all was not well, his mind felt tormented, mangled, fried; he just didn't know why.

"Actually we have come to see if the rumors were true; from the looks of it, it seems they were, tis truly a terrible thing for a reaper to take his own life."
Upon those words, Grell remembered, just in time to wish he never had.

William, oh William..

He was seeing it all again, as if it was happening again. He could feel the pain when he was struck, hear the screaming, the agony, the gunshot ringing out..

He had no idea he had begun screaming and writhing on the bed, tangling his long crimson hair and the sheets around his small body; this only added to the terror, making him believe he was trapped, unable to escape from reliving his worst nightmare.

Somewhere in the back of his head, he could hear a voice, one of the voices from before, soft and smooth like velvet. It was trying to coax him out of the prison that was his mind, but he couldn't see past his fear, he couldn't sense anything outside of his horrifying memory. He thrashed wildly for a few minutes, but before long, his already exhausted body began to lose what little reserve of strength it had and he had no choice but to calm down. The voice became more clear as the nightmare faded, and the hand that was gripping and gently shaking his trembling shoulders brought him back around; he finally managed to open his eyes a bit and take in his surroundings. The first thing he recognized was the person who was now leaning over him, his long sliver hair draped over the reapers body, an uncharacteristic frown on his face. He looked into Grell's teary eyes through his thick silver bangs and pressed a hand tenderly to the younger man's forehead. He tsked and shook his head a bit.

"You're burning up m'dear. It seems you've went and got yourself ill in the snowstorm."

Grell didn't speak; he was utterly petrified, afraid to even breathe. Undertaker noticed this and he cackled, standing up and giving the redhead some room to breathe.

"It's alright Red, I'm not gonna box you up in a coffin or nothin' like that. You need to relax or you'll have a heart attack."

Grell continued to stare silently at his apparent savior. He was bewildered, and maybe a bit delirious from the fever, but he didn't seem to quite understand what was going on. He wasn't aware there was anyone else in the room until Sebastian spoke up, his voice causing the reaper to flinch.

"Well, this type of behavior is most unlike you Grell. You seem to be quite troubled by this turn of events. I almost wish you would bound about and fuss over me as you normally do so that we would know you are still of sound mind." Sebastian turned to Undertaker and lowered his voice "Why has this troubled him so? I know he was fond of Will, but I never knew he was this attached."

"Aye" Undertaker replied with a grin "It seems the two of them shared a sacred bond. Very emotional beings, us reapers are, though only with one another. We get attached quite easily." Undertaker began bustling around the shop humming to himself a bit, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Grell was already asleep again, or maybe he'd fainted, but he was shivering a bit. Undertaker pulled a thick blanket from one of the many cabinets and carried it over to where the redhead lay, draping it over him and feeling his forehead again to find his fever had yet to go down. "Yes, I'll have to wake him in a bit if it doesn't get better."

"So, this sacred bond you speak of, I take it that it is a big deal among your kind?"

"Indeed, once it is made it cannot be broken, the reapers who made it cannot be separated or the one left standing will slowly waste away and die." As always, talk of death seemed to excite the silver haired man, but he seemed a bit troubled; perhaps he was a bit attached to the redhead as well. "Well, I suppose there's nothing we can do now, you two best get going before night falls." Much to Ciel's dismay Undertaker swooped over to him and ran a long black fingernail along the young boy's cheek. "Wouldn't want nothin' to happen to you, now would we?"

Ciel sighed and batted the man's hand away, gesturing to Sebastian lazily "Fine, let us go then Sebastian."

Sebastian bowed low "Yes, my lord." He then turned to Undertaker. "Do take care; I imagine we will be seeing you soon." With that the two exited the shop, closing the door softly behind them. Undertaker cackled softly to himself then went to check on Grell once again; it seemed the man's fever was rising even more. It was rare for a reaper to fall ill, it only happened when they suffered severe physical and emotional distress at the same time, and when they did fall ill it was quite harsh on them. He frowned and whipped up an herbal remedy quickly, mixing it in with some hot tea. He then sat down on a stool beside the redhead and shook his shoulder gently to wake him. "Aye Red, wake up."

Grell opened his eyes slowly and looked around, though it was clear that he was very delirious now. He smacked himself in the forehead and then yanked on the ends of his hair a few times, his eyes glazed and distant. "Wha..? Where are you, hello?"

Undertaker stroked the other man's hair gently, hoping to keep him calm. "Now now, it's alright Red. Can you sit up a bit? You need to drink this." He held out the small red cup that was full of piping hot tea. Grell struggled for a few moments and found he was too weak to push himself up even a little. He shook his head a few times and closed his eyes. "I can't…I'm dying."

Undertaker flinched a little inwardly at his words, but he just chuckled softly on the outside and patted the smaller man's head. "No, you're not dying m'dear, you're just rather ill. This will help you if you can drink it." Slowly and carefully so as not to frighten him, Undertaker placed his arm behind Grell's shoulders and lifted him up a bit, supporting his weight easily, and lifted the tea cup to his lips, urging the redhead to drink a bit. "Here now, it will feel good to you, just drink it slowly, then you can go back to sleep." Grell nodded very slightly and slowly sipped the tea, moaning lightly in pleasure as the warm liquid soothed his throat and warmed his chilled body. After a few minutes he had finished it and Undertaker laid him back down, covering him again with the blanket and moving his crimson hair out of his face. He then dipped a small cloth in a bowl of cold water and wrung it out, then proceeded to bathe Grell's face gently with it. Again, the reaper let out a small moan; he kept going from freezing to feeling as if he was being burned alive, and right now was the latter, so the coolness came as a relief, as did Undertaker's soothing voice.

"There now, you just rest your pretty little head, you'll be back to yourself in no time, I'll make sure of that." Grell was fast asleep before the older man had finished speaking, his breathing slow and even. He seemed so relaxed and peaceful, and his face "So beautiful." Undertaker whispered to himself, a bit shocked by the words coming from his own mouth "Huh. Dunno where that came from." He thought for a moment then shrugged and went about his work, staying up to keep a close eye on the other reaper occupying his couch.

If he really planned to nurse this one back to health, he knew he was in for a hell of a trip.

Thanks for reading :3 and please review if you liked it, or if you didn't, I welcome constructive criticism if there is anything I can improve.