Grell coughed from the smoke as he crawled from the rubble. The demon attack had been sudden and caught the reapers off guard. How did the demons even get here? He wondered as began to look around. He quickly decided it didn't matter right now. Right now what mattered was the fact that there were no other reapers to be seen.
He scrambled down over the broken bits of building. Where was everyone? Ronald! Ronald had been in the building with him! Grell took to work trying to clear away the broken building as he searched for his friend. After a few minutes, he came across a body. "Ronnie?" he called as he pulled the body free. It wasn't Ronald. It was some other reaper he couldn't place the name of and they were dead. He hoped Ronald wouldn't be found in the same condition as this one.
He delved deeper. The was a groaning and creaking. Debris began to rained down. Grell fell back just in time for more of the building to collapse. "Ronnie!" he called. He needed help. He hoped, if Ronnie was still alive, that he would be okay until he could find someone to help.
William. Where was William? Grell looked at the burnt and crumbled remains of the London branch, his heart beating wildly. He picked his way back down out of the rubble and made his way towards dispatch. He finally spotted a few reapers gathered on the streets. As he approached, he saw Eric Slingby on the ground weeping as he cradled the bloodied and broken body of Alan Humphries. But no William.
"Will? Has anyone seen Will?" he asked.
"Who?" a voice answered.
"William T. Spears." No one responded and Grell moved off away from the party. The demons made off with some of the reapers, Grell heard some of them say. He prayed that William hadn't been one of them.
Grell looked up at the burning remains of dispatch. The windows to William's office was busted out as flames and smoke billowed forth. "Will," Grell breathed. His heart ached for his love's beloved mahogany desk, the blotter where tons of paperwork had been stacked...the little play area he had in the corner of his office for his pigeons, the couch where they had made love once one drunken Christmas party night. William professed it never happened, but Grell knew better. Gone...it was all gone.
Grell growled in rage. "Pull yourself together woman!" he shouted at himself. "This is no time to get all wishy washy and weepy!" Grell straightened his back and marched towards the burning building. "Will! Darling!" he shouted. A few half burnt reapers ran out of the building, indicating people were still in there.
Without hesitation, Grell ran inside. He ran down halls and up stairs, stepping over bodies and sliding through pools of blood. The higher he got in the building, the worse the smoke got and he soon encountered flames. "Will!" he called, screaming the name before choking on the smoke.
The hall to William's office was collapsed and too consumed in flames to attempt proceeding further. "Will!"
There was a thud and it sounded as if it came from Grell's office. Covering his mouth with a handkerchief, Grell rushed towards the flames. He kicked open his office door. William was on the floor, slumped against the wall. Blood flowed from his wounds and he looked half conscious. "Will!" Grell knelt in front of him and hoisted him over his shoulders. "I got you, darling," he said gently before turning to leave the room. The flames had reached the door.
Grell cursed and searched for another way out. Setting William down, Grell summoned his scythe and put the revolving blade to the window until it shattered. He picked William back up and stepped to the edge. Peering over, his heart fluttered at the height. "Ready, darling? I'll be as gentle as I can, I promise."
His body screamed as he hit the ground below. William's body was heavy and Grell fought the urge to shove him off and he was pretty certain he had broken something in the fall. The weight of William was lifted off him and hands grabbed at Grell. Other reapers were helped them to a makeshift medical area. Soon after, Grell blacked out.
When he came to, he looked around and spotted William nearby. He was conscious and upright, holding a cup as he sipped from it. "William," Grell called softly. He had an ugly gash on his forehead from what looked like a demon claw and another reaper was tending to it.
"Knox is dead," he said coldly.
Yes, though Grell had hoped otherwise, the state of the building they had been in when he had left it had not been promising. "What...what do we do now, darling?" Grell asked.
William turned his cold eyes upon the redhead and adjusted his bent frames. "Our job."