It's been a while but I've finally managed to get this finished :) As usual, I don't own any rights to Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji. Enjoy!
Ciel stared down at the invitation in his hand, trying to think of a realistic and justifiable plan for the task he had just been given. With the invitation to a ball had come a letter from the Queen explaining that the host of said ball had built his fame and fortune on a throne of lies and unsavoury dealings. She was beginning to become concerned with his growing power and status and wanted him to be revealed for the criminal he truly was. However, there was one little problem that was standing firmly in Ciel's way- he knew who Earl Phantomhive was and his connection to the Queen as her 'guard dog'. This meant he wouldn't be able to make it two steps in the door if he actually showed himself at this ball. Which meant he would have to send someone in his stead. The most obvious choice was Sebastian since he was more than capable of handling himself should the situation turn against him and he knew exactly what needed to be done. But the invitation also gave the opportunity for a guest of your own choosing. Of course, this was not compulsory but Sebastian could fall under a lot of suspicion and speculation should he arrive alone and that would make their job much harder to accomplish. The first possible option was Mey Rin but Ciel almost instantly disregarded that idea as soon as it entered his mind. There were far too many things that could go wrong with that and neither Ciel nor Sebastian needed to deal with that on top of what they already had been tasked to do. The rest of the servants were obviously out of the question. Madame Red would have been a fairly reliable choice but it was a little too late for that...
"My Lord?" Sebastian asked, shaking Ciel from his thoughts.
"Hm?" Ciel replied, placing the letter and invitation down on his desk.
"I suggested that maybe I should go in your stead. As long as your pride wouldn't take a blow, of course," Sebastian smirked and Ciel rolled his eyes.
"I was thinking along the same lines. But who would you take with you? Going alone would only make you more suspicious before you even walked in the door," Ciel explained. Sebastian was silent and looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I'm sure I'll think of something" Sebastian reassured him. Something about his tone of voice worried Ciel a little but, against his gut feeling, he decided to trust Sebastian with the task and assured himself that nothing would go wrong.
When Grell received an envelope containing an invitation to a ball sat on her desk at Grim Reaper Dispatch, she squealed with joy. She knew it was a very unladylike response but she couldn't help herself. She had attended plenty of balls in her time, but she couldn't remember the last time she'd actually been formally invited to one. But once she saw that the letter accompanying the invitation had come from Sebastian, she was certain she could have fainted on the spot. Her dreams had finally come true; Sebastian had invited her to a ball! She could picture it already- her beautiful gown swirling around her as Sebastian whisked her off her feet and they dance together into the stars. Her heart did fall a little when she finally got around to reading the rest of the letter and discovered that the two of them were to be working undercover. But then her spirits were lifted once more when she realised how much Sebastian must trust her if he was willing to ask for her help on a case. And since he had invited her, it suggested to her that Ciel wouldn't be with them. Just the two of them alone together; working to bring these men to justice. Her heart soared at the mere concept.
Over the following days, Grell found herself walking with more of a bounce in her step than before. Even Will, who never seemed to notice anything in relation to Grell, picked up on how happy she seemed. But when he or anyone else confronted her about it, she'd simply wink and walk away. Which was strange in itself since every time anything even remotely pleased Grell, she'd be babbling about it for weeks. Then quite out of the blue, Grell asked for a night off. Will simply stared at her in shocked silence, part way through opening the door to his office. Grell was well known amongst Grim Reaper Dispatch for taking random time off and skipping work but never before had she actually asked for it beforehand.
"I mean, I don't see why not" Will muttered, unsure of what else to say. Grell promptly thanked him and walked away, leaving her boss stood in the doorway to his own office wondering what exactly had just happened. Another couple of days went by and finally the day Grell had been waiting for began. She made sure to arrive at the Phantomhive manor exactly on time- something very unlike her. Sebastian even had to hide his own surprise when he opened the door to see her standing in front of him.
"What? This is the time you wanted me to be here, so here I am" Grell smiled with a small flourish of her hands. Sebastian found the power of words failing him as he took in her appearance. Her usual work clothes were nowhere to be seen and instead she wore a long, silken red dress and her unruly hair was curled into an elegant updo.
"Well, I suppose that means we should be going" Sebastian finally managed to say, stepping out the door to stand beside her. He led her down to the carriage that waited for them and opened the door. With surprising grace, she climbed inside. Sebastian followed and shut the door behind him. Within a few moments, the carriage began to pull away.
"You look... presentable" Sebastian mumbled, wincing slightly at his own awkward choice of words. But Grell seemed delighted nonetheless.
"Well, I don't wear my work clothes everywhere, you know" Grell giggled, rolling her eyes despite the blush spreading across her cheeks. Sebastian nodded but said nothing further. They continued towards their destination in silence for a while.
"So, are you going to tell me more about this criminal or am I just going to have to figure it out on my own?" Grell suddenly broke the silence, turning to look at Sebastian once more. Sebastian blinked at her in confused silence before realising that he hadn't actually explained much about what they were walking into. Normally, he would have simply rolled his eyes and expected her to tag along nonetheless. But, for some reason, Sebastian thought he should tell her what was going on. Only to protect his own cover, of course. There wouldn't be any other reason other than his own task. So, he explained to her that the host of the ball they were heading towards had built his fortune through black market dealings and the Queen and tasked Ciel with bringing him down.
"And how, exactly, are we going to do that?" Grell questioned, raising an eyebrow. But before Sebastian could reply, the carriage slowed to a halt. The two of them peered out the window to see a large, ornate manor stood in front of them.
"It seems we've arrived" Sebastian stated, swiftly evading Grell's question as he opened the carriage door and stepped out. Grell began to stand but suddenly stopped when she looked over to see Sebastian offering his hand out to her. Cautiously, she placed her hand in his and stepped out of the carriage to stand beside him. Much to her surprise, Sebastian's hand didn't leave hers as they walked up the steps to the doors of the manor.
"Your invitations, please" the doorman dully requested. Sebastian presented their invitations under the aliases Queen Victoria had given them. The doorman nodded after barely glancing at them and opened the door to allow them inside. They entered to see that most of the guests had already arrived.
"Ah, you two must be Lord and Lady Faucette," a man dressed in white approached them "Lord Wright, at your service"
"The pleasure is all ours" Sebastian said as Grell dipped down into a small curtsy.
"Well enjoy yourselves this evening" Lord Wright winked before turning and walking away.
"He's certainly a creep" Grell said under her breath and Sebastian couldn't help but smile.
"Now remember why we're here. Go talk to some of the other guests, see if there's any secrets floating around" Sebastian suggested, turning in the opposite direction to Grell.
"So where are you going?" Grell questioned once she noticed her and Sebastian were heading in different directions.
"There's a call I need to make; I'll join you again shortly" Sebastian replied cryptically before walking away and disappearing into the crowd. Seeing no other alternative, Grell walked off in the direction of the ballroom. As she entered, she noticed a group of guests standing near the doorway and went over and introduced herself.
"Was that your husband I saw walk away just then?" one of the women in the group asked and it took Grell a moment to realise she was talking about Sebastian.
"Yes, my husband, of course" Grell smiled to herself. Even if it was only a facade, Grell's heart still fluttered at saying those words.
"So, do you have any idea about tonight's big secret or are you as clueless as the rest of us?" the woman questioned and Grell tilted her head in confusion at her.
"Tonight's big secret?" Grell replied, wondering what on earth could be going on.
"Apparently, at the end of tonight's ball, Lord Wright is going to reveal the secret behind his success" another woman spoke up and Grell instantly became curious- was this what she had been looking for?
"And no one knows what it is" the woman's husband added. But before she could reply, Grell felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Sebastian smiling at her. There was a look in his eyes that she never in her wildest dreams thought would be directed at her; his eyes twinkled with affection.
"Sorry to interrupt, my dear. But may I have this dance with you?" Sebastian said, courteously holding out his hand towards her. Only then did Grell realise music had began to play around them as people took to the dance floor. Unable to speak, Grell simply placed her hand in Sebastian's and allowed herself to be led into the crowd. Once they reached the middle of the room, Sebastian stopped and pulled Grell steadily towards him until one arm was wrapped around her waist, his hand fitting comfortably into the small of her back. As he clasped his free hand in Grell's, she tentatively placed her other hand on his shoulder. He could feel her heart pounding in her chest as their eyes found each other again but instead of his usual smirk, Sebastian realised he could do nothing but smile warmly at her. They began to sway gently with the music, their eyes unable to move from each other's gaze.
"So apparently, Lord Wright is going to-" Grell began to explain what she had heard from the other guests.
"Hush," Sebastian interrupted her "there's no need to think about any of that now"
Before Grell could question him, Sebastian pulled her close and spun her around. And just like that, Grell was lost to the world around her. Her body melted in Sebastian's arms as they danced to the music. She wasn't even aware of what her feet were doing; she simply followed Sebastian's lead and allowed herself to be whisked away. Seconds, minutes, hours- Grell had no idea how long the two of them had been dancing. All she knew was that even under all the lies and deceit that had allowed them into this ball, Grell saw something warm and soft in the way Sebastian looked at her that was anything but a lie. His breath brushed past Grell's cheeks and Grell slowly felt her body leaning in towards him. Was this it? Was this really the moment Grell had been waiting so long for? Her eyes fluttered closed and...
"Everyone stop where you are!"
Grell stumbled back in surprise as a harsh voice shattered through the air. She turned around towards the door to see a large group of men in uniform blocking the entrance to the ballroom. Out of the group, a man in a trench coat emerged and walked directly over to Lord Wright who appeared to be frozen in shock.
"Lord Wright, I'm Chief Inspector Fred Abberline, and you are under arrest under suspicion of blackmail, black market dealings, and several accounts of murder" the man announced, revealing a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. A moment of shocked silence rested over the entire ballroom. Then suddenly, Lord Wright turned and ran. Almost in the same instant, Sebastian jumped from Grell's side towards him. In a flash of movement, Sebastian caught Lord Wright by the arm and pushed him to the ground.
"You're not going anywhere," Sebastian whispered, keeping him held by the wrist until the Chief Inspector cuffed him. The entire crowd was left in confused silence as the Lord was pulled away. Calmly, Sebastian returned to Grell's side.
"What was all that about?" Grell questioned, her tone a little more accusatory than she had intended it to be.
"We came here to bring down Lord Wright. I believe we succeeded" Sebastian replied vaguely, linking his arm with Grell's.
"But why all the secrecy? You could have told me you disappeared to call the police" Grell huffed, not completely aware of the fact that Sebastian had begun leading her towards the door.
"I knew you'd figure it out eventually. And clearly, I was right" Sebastian nodded, smiling slightly to himself at the growing frustration in Grell's voice.
"So why did you bring me here in the first place? I hardly contributed anything to this case" Grell sighed, looking down at her feet.
"I wanted to dance with you" Sebastian replied quietly. Grell glanced up to look at him and found his expression was a lot shyer than she had been expecting.
"You did?" Grell asked hopefully.
"You have good rhythm" Sebastian complimented.
"You would have known that already if you danced with me more" Grell quipped, causing Sebastian to smirk to himself.
"Well, maybe after tonight I can fix that" Sebastian suddenly stopped and Grell looked around them to realise they were stood outside their carriage. Sebastian then opened the carriage door and offered out his hand, smiling softly as if Grell's confusion was both entertaining and yet endearing to him. Silently, Grell placed her hand in his and stepped up into the carriage. Sebastian followed close behind and soon the Wright mansion- and the crowds of confused guests stood outside- faded into the distance behind them. An oddly awkward silence hung in the air between them as neither of them knew exactly what to say.
"Thank you for tonight" Grell finally said, staring down at her hands as they rested in her lap. Sebastian tentatively reached out, placed a finger underneath Grell's chin and gently turned her head to look back at him.
"It was my pleasure" Sebastian smiled sincerely, feeling the warmth of Grell's blush on his fingertips. As Grell looked into Sebastian's eyes, she felt the world slow around her until time seemed to stop altogether. Slowly, she felt Sebastian's fingers slide up until his hand cupped her cheek. In between them, Sebastian's free hand found Grell's and intertwined their fingers. Just like before, Grell felt herself leaning in towards Sebastian. But this time, there were no sudden interruptions. As soon as their lips touched, Grell smiled. She had dreamed of this moment for so long and yet now it was finally coming true, all she could focus on was the fact that as she smiled into the kiss, Sebastian smiled back. The kiss was sweet, gentle, and ended almost as soon as it began. But as Sebastian pulled away, the two of them shared a look that spoke a thousand words. Their lips didn't meet again that night. But, even as Grell watched Sebastian leave in the carriage as she stood in her doorway, she knew something wonderful had blossomed between them. Something so deep and powerful that nothing would stand in its way; not even their own pride.