The storm rolled over the darkened city of London like a slow-coming nightmare, thunder growling lions in plumbing clouds of ash grey and black, little flashes of lightning bright and blinding to the naked human eye.

Rain washed over the old cobblestone streets, marred with a layer of dirt and grime from years upon years of use and miscare, the one glorious haven of an Empire now a ruin in the making. Filth was everywhere, upon the walls and roofs, doors and windows, everywhere; even the people, covered in a layer of dirt.

Nothing was pleasant anymore; the days of prosperity were gone, leaving behind a barren present void of hope. There was no money, no food - everyone was struggling to keep the very shirt upon their backs, children crying and adults shuffling to and fro in an exhausted state. The city a fallen kingdom, its economy down the drain like water.

The Great Depression - the year of 1935.

Sitting at the edge of the infamous clock tower, his legs dangling limply over the edge like a ragdoll's, Grell Sutcliff played absentmindedly with the ends of his long red hair. Twirling the locks in a spaghetti-like fashion around his fingers, he stared half-lidded at humanity below, the ghost of a once smile dotting his lips.

He should be happy, content with watching the endless struggle of man, something he took great amusement in, especially when it involved a huge splash of conflicted romance and infatuation. Oh yes, the scandalous love affairs were the greatest, but those were so hard to come by nowadays - ah, how he missed the 1800's so dearly. Such an amusing time, especially with that child and his 'faithful' butler roaming about; he had not seen neither hide nor hair of the demon or the little boy since the presumed death of the child-earl over a good 45 years ago.

Such a shame - it had been entertaining while it lasted for the red Reaper.

Now all he had was his darling William to flirt with; a crooked smile made its way upon his lips. It was funny, really - so many assumed that he had the hots for the stoic hair Reaper, all because of a little dose of tease and bantering on his part. Really now, it was - again - all just fun and games.

Certainly, he may have once thought he fell in love with the man, but he was young then - a teenager who did not understand his own emotions (and the difference between love and rivalry). Now he was (obviously) older, more mature (a small amount still counted for something!), and more in tune to his heart; why must half the office stare at him, however, expecting him to burst into tears with rejection? For crying out loud, he was not made of glass - he may be a woman at heart, feminine at times, and overdramatic, but he was still a man in many ways - he was very comfortable with himself and how he looked (for no other woman could be a gorgeous as she herself), and there were times in which he was more a man than a woman. He was not bothered - frankly, he liked it this way; his own unique self, untouched by the hands of disagreement and indifference. If he was rejected, so what? He wasn't looking for love in most of his targets anyways - their reactions were his prey, his food.

He could be crazy, could be completely insane and odd, but who was he to guess? After all, that old geezer with the extremely attractive face underneath the shag of steel silver bangs was absolutely batshit, and no one bothered him.

Contrary to popular belief, he had little interest in William 'in that way'; the man was his best friend, whether he went back and forth between accepting and denying it, his partner-in-crime (again, same circumstances), brother...

Brother; that was an interesting way of describing it - though truth be told, he was slowly calling William that more than anything else. The man was absolutely ridged, cold and cruel with a constant dull expression, but when they fought and clashed until Grell was all but giggling a shark smile and the onyx haired Reaper red at the cheeks, it was so similar to that of simple sibling banter.

Brother; what was the definition? Someone related by blood or someone of whom you share a close bond with? A figure of kinship or shared roots? What was it exactly?

Grell had no idea - all he knew; William, his baby brother.

He sighed, glancing up at the clouds in thought and exasperation all at the same time. Why did this always come about when he was alone without any form of company? He had his dog at home, but out here, there were only humans, and that alone made him cringe - true, he was too once human. But that was centuries ago, and he had since become accustomed to being a Reaper.

The clock behind him clicked, the giant hands moving inch by inch towards the big Roman twelve at the tip top, chiming the hour of noon across London. Grell sighed, standing up on the stone ledge; time to go. This little show had run dry for him; he should be happy with it, but he was not. Nothing was right as it had been once before - and something warned him that it was only going to get worse.

But enough of that - back to home and baby brother.

"My darlings, I fear that our time has run short - but do not fret or cry. For the lady in red shall be back again, to audience your little performance - the show of life, with dashes of romance and crimson red drama, until the final curtain is drawn upon the stage!"

With these words, he leapt into the air, like a wolf; his 'mane' scarlet in the stormy sky, body arched and curved like a predator, ready to strike. Then, as the world descended, he fell down through the sky, the shock rushing through his veins like wild fire, air pulsing around him - fret not, for he pulled up just in time to land perfectly upon the stone road.

A blink of an eye, and he was gone again.

A/N:

I do not own Black Butler.

Hi ^^ This was something I decided to write after watching the OVA Will the Reaper and listening to "Skyfall". I love Grell, he's one of my favourite characters in Kuroshitsuji :3 But a lot of times, I find that people in fanfiction tend to portray him as weak or fragile - I do not see him as any of that. Not saying that there is anything wrong with writing Grell like that, I just have a different view of her (and yes, I have read the confessions/interview and that has also been influence to my interpretation - she makes a lovely woman :'3 ). But there are times that I do see her as a man, mostly in how he behaves and thinks; I am not intending to be disrespectful, so if I do offend anyone, I sincerely apologize. Once again, this is just my interpretation of Grell, nothing canon.

Onto the story, I find a lot of Grelliam fanfiction everywhere - I enjoy a good fic of the pairing from time to time, but I wanted to try something different (this is not a Grelliam story, apologies). That, and Grell and William make the most adorable brother pair - and for clarification, Grell is the older of the two in this by at least a year or two.

All aside, I hope you enjoy the story ^^