This story follows the manga, not the anime, but yes, of course I've also watched the anime and I'm aware of its plot and its ending...

The demon smiled in the morning light. It was ten o'clock, much later than usual, but his master and he had come back to the manor at dawn, so he had let the boy sleep a few hours. After all, his body was still the one of a child, and besides he was still convalescing from his asthma attack. Weary. Weak, thought the demon, wrinkling his nose in disdain. His soul, though…

Sebastian approached the sleeping shape of his contractor, a small lump in the middle of the huge four-poster bed, and inhaled his scent. The demon felt immediately dizzy. There. Unbelievable. He thought he could smell a slight change last night, after the awful events in the Gelwin manor, but now the scent had settled. There was a subtlety that wasn't there before. Somehow, the events had altered Ciel Phantomhive's scent. And his… flavour. No human would notice, of course, as it was Ciel's soul what was affected here, not his body. Sebastian smiled and leaned over the young man until his nose almost touched the boy's hair, and then he inhaled again.

Suddenly, Ciel opened his big round eyes, startled. His butler's face was barely inches from his. Sebastian's smile grew wider as he said:

"You smell of blood and fire again, young master".

And he straightened up to leave Ciel space. The boy looked tired, but fully awake. He avoided his butler's greedy eyes while he sat up in the bed.

"Then you should be preparing me a bath".

"Of course, sir. You can drink your tea while I do it".

The demon poured the fragrant liquid into a beautiful china cup and passed it to his master.

Later, doing his chores in the manor (which apparently included, today, rebuilding a whole wing of the house and dealing with lady Elizabeth and the seamstress, what a horrible day), Sebastian noticed he couldn't stop smiling despite all. A part of him was concerned about his charge: his wellbeing, his health. He didn't want to lose him to an illness; if Ciel Phantomhive died before having the chance for revenge, all those years of servitude would have been for nothing, as his part of the contract would be still unfulfilled and, in law, he couldn't claim Ciel's soul. Not that he couldn't cheat if convenient, but still. He was a demon of honour, and he didn't want to resort to do that. Especially not to this charge. Ciel Phantomhive was a man of honour, too, and he deserved fair play. He would have his revenge in full, and then Sebastian would have him as dinner. And Ciel would submit to him without complaining, he would lie, naked and quiet, and would close those beautiful eyes of his and…

Stop it. Stop it now. Sebastian breathed deeply and focused again. He had plans. Planning was important. Important for a demon, and important for a butler, and as he was both now, doubly important was it. He couldn't be distracted by hunger or want.

Want. Because another part of him was thinking ahead: If Ciel's soul, pure, proud, was now slightly tainted by crime and cruelty, and its scent had changed and added layers of complexity, what would it evolve into if pushed a bit further? It would be a difficult task, he sighed. The young earl had felt nauseous and guilty as the sun had risen. He had masked his feelings, had made explanations and tried to convince himself that there was a reason for the children's deaths. All in vain, of course: Sebastian didn't need any explanation and Ciel couldn't believe his own lies for a second. The demon knew the boy now felt sick of himself, and was hating his own weakness, a weakness and fear that had led him to kill innocents. Still, it wasn't the same as if he had killed them with his own hands, not for him.

Once the lulling rhythm of normality had settled again, Sebastian made his move.

He brought his master tea and pastries at the usual time of the afternoon. The earl was at his office, looking, as usual, small and fragile behind that huge desk and sitting on that huge armchair. During the first months of his contract, Sebastian had considered speeding his master's growth. It irritated him, the fact that his charge's body was so weak; human bodies were weak enough, with their short lives and illnesses, so perhaps he could make Ciel strong and powerful. But he soon realised the boy's strength resided in his character and in his intellect, and that he relied on Sebastian for all that meant body power; so the demon finally shrugged the annoyance away and accepted the natural growth order. That, in Ciel's case, was really slow. Still, it felt wrong seeing him looking like a small child among all the symbols of his family's power. The butler sighed, impatient.

"What's the matter?", Ciel asked, his attention still fully focused on his company papers.

Sebastian faked a smile and served the tea and the snack.

"Nothing, young master. Well, on second thoughts…"

Now he had the boy's attention. The young earl raised his eyes from his work, frowning, and the butler coughed and elaborated:

"Scotland Yard found last night an interesting basement. There were small children in cages, showing signs of dehydration, and malnourished".

The demon could almost feel the boy's heart leap inside his ribcage. His face didn't betray any feeling, though.

"Branded?"

"I don't think so, no". Sebastian watched his master with full attention: only the tightness of his jaw gave the boy's emotions away. He let out his next punch: "It seems the nest of the… providers. That cult was erased of the face of this world, young master: the last strand was baron Gelwin, some weeks ago". He made a pause to savour the painful expression of the boy when he was reminded of the dreadful event. "Now we need to go after the people who ordered the burning of your manor and the death of your parents. This could be a clue which might lead us to them".

"I've made that connection myself, thank you", Ciel said, through gritted teeth.

All the weariness was gone from the boy now. They studied the few details they had, and Ciel immediately started to plan and order Sebastian's movements. The demon smiled, really pleased: that was his master.

"As you wish, my lord".

And he was gone in the blink of an eye.

That, that was what he liked the most: the action, the chase, setting traps and watching his prey dance around, closer every time, until they were finally there, unable to escape… The demon laughed loudly when he had the man exactly where he wanted.

They went out together at nightfall. Ciel insisted on wearing his "average Eastend boy" clothes, but this time Sebastian made him wear Finny's jacket over them, as his asthma was still too recent. The demon looked askance at the boy while they walked by a desert, dark street: the teenager's jacket was still a couple of sizes too big, and the earl looked still younger than his age, like a small child borrowing his father's clothes.

Ciel's orders had been searching the house and asking the neighbours in order to find the whereabouts of the kidnappers. Only one of them was in jail, the one who was in that moment on-duty, keeping an eye on the children. The others were gone, and Scotland Yard was still on the trail. This time Ciel didn't have the Queen's leave to investigate the case, so he couldn't go near the imprisoned man. Of course, Sebastian had one of the men already located, but he said nothing about it to his master, and simply ensured he escaped to an isolated hideout, instead of going to hide in his family's house. A blow of fear did the trick, the man didn't need more than that. Not that Sebastian had any scruples, but he preferred avoiding murder if it wasn't by his master's direct order.

The house lock was easy to pick open. Once inside, they wandered through the dark rooms, searching. The demon didn't need a light, and Ciel just followed him, aware of any sudden movement around them. It all seemed empty and quiet, although the kitchen was well assorted and the pantry was full of food. Clearly someone lived there, if only on occasions: the two bedrooms had bedclothes, but they could find very few clothes in the wardrobes, and no personal document or photograph at all. Ciel grunted, frustrated. Sebastian led the way towards the basement, waiting until his master grabbed the back of his jacket before going downstairs. He didn't expect what he found when he opened the metal door.

The basement was a large room, cold and wet, without windows, and bare of any furniture except for three big cages. Inside them, luckily enough, there was only straw, but the stains evidenced they had been used recently, and by who. Sebastian tried to bar the entrance, but it was too late: his master, sensing something was wrong, pushed the butler aside and stepped in the room. The demon took hold of Ciel's arm, concerned. He thought this house was where the man lived, or some safe house of his organization; he didn't know there were still more children's hideouts. He wouldn't have brought Ciel here if he had known it: he enjoyed a bit of pain in his contractor's face, he was a demon after all, and it was in his nature. But he hated hurting Ciel in excess, and the - manor events were too recent to expose the boy to more reminiscences of his own torture and almost death. They made the young man feel weak and small, it angered the demon. Ciel shouldn't feel weak or frightened, that didn't suit him. Sebastian wanted to erase those emotions from his contractor, he would turn Ciel Phantomhive into a powerful, strong man, the kind of man the boy was inherently. The world would fear Ciel Phantomhive, oh, yes, it would, it could. Besides, Ciel had already murdered because of fear. That wouldn't do now.

The demon squeezed the boy's arm, and forced him to look into his eyes. The young earl was trembling, and a drop of sweat was nested over his upper lip. Sebastian wiped it, gently, and whispered to his charge:

"They are all gone. No more slave children. The men will come back, but now we are here. I am here with you, if you need me. But you have got a gun this time".

The boy's gaze dropped to the gun in his hand. It seemed to give him the confidence he was lacking. Ciel composed himself and stopped trembling. His blue eye shone on the almost darkness, the stairs light giving him a creepy and iron-like look. He raised his gun and unlocked the safety.

Sebastian looked around, catching all the small details that his master couldn't see in the gloom. What was wrong with humans? They were so frail, so short their lifes, and still they didn't have any respect for human life. Instead of treasuring it, they despised it and twisted it. London's entrails were rotten. They could end with this organisation, but there would be others, as long as there was a demand for children: organ traffic, paedophiles, sadists, stupid cults with human sacrifices… The list was never ending. Sebastian kicked one of the cages, annoyed.

His enhanced senses allowed him to hear the man when he pushed the main door. They still had some spare moments to get ready to catch him. Sebastian grinned and squeezed again his master's arm. The boy looked at him, but it was too dark for him to see his face, so the demon signalled the staircase and Ciel quickly caught the idea. The earl hid in the shadows beside the stairs, his gun firm in his hand. Sebastian positioned himself in a corner, completely concealed behind a wooden box. The upper step of the stairs soon creaked, and a circle of yellowish light started to go down to the basement.

"Richard?", the man's voice called. "Are you there?"

The man descended some steps more; he was almost down at their level now. The hesitant voice sounded again.

"Hello? Is someone in there?". The man at last went down the last steps. He walked in, approaching his gaslight towards the cages. "Don't be afraid and go out, I won't hurt you…"

The shot resounded on the high ceiling. The man fell down on his knees, and Sebastian observed with glee the man's blood escaping his thigh, slowly but fluent, dark, rich flavoured. Ciel was aiming his gun to the man's head now, and his teeth might be grinding and his hands might be trembling, but a look of fiery determination was firmly settled on his face.

"Wait!", the man cried out, stalling for time. "I didn't know there was still someone in here, I swear! I will help you out, I will! I helped the others, I will help you now."

"You liar". Ciel's voice was icy. "No one helped me. You just hurt me, humiliated me, used me. Or left me there for others to do so. Nobody helped".

The man's eyes widened. Of course he didn't follow the boy's words.

"No! I swear!"

"Where are the others?"

"I don't know, they were gone. They fled when the police found the other house, they left all the children here and just fled… That's why I came back, to release them. I swear! I didn't know you were still here!"

The man was sobbing now. Sebastian watched him again with a lopsided grin. The man was in his forties, single, no children, humble origin but did mostly legal works in the harbour. The demon had chosen him right: he wouldn't be much missed.

"That's not enough!", the earl roared. "Where are the others!"

"I swear, I don't know! My job was only to feed the children, just that… I promise, I never touched or beat them! Sometimes I had to be a bit rough, because the masters asked me to be, but I swear I didn't hit them, not much…"

Sebastian's eyes ran to his master's features. He could clearly see Ciel recalling his own feeding time while he was bound inside a cage that looked extremely similar to those ones. And this time fear was out of his face, being replaced by hatred, his haughty beautiful features torn and wrinkled, making him look like an animal, a fierce wolf about to jump over his prey.

The next shot hit the man right in his forehead. The third and the fourth somewhere in his chest. The fifth was lost in the dark as Sebastian finally moved and took Ciel's whole body between his arms and lifted him carefully.

"The man is already dead, my lord…", he whispered to his charge's ear. "We should go now, all the neighbourhood must have heard the shots."

And, without waiting for an answer, he jumped over the dead man's body and ran up the stairs with Ciel holding tightly to his neck. Sebastian felt the boy's breath against his ear and chin while he ran fast, fast, as fast as he could. As fast that nobody noticed more than a shadow moving through the streets, through the roads. He made it to the Phantomhive Manor in less than ten minutes. His charge was silent, just grabbing his butler waistcoat with sweaty hands, but he almost never talked while Sebastian was running.

He left the boy on the floor when they arrived home and opened the main door. Ciel looked dizzy but his cheeks were dry. That was good news. Sebastian resumed his butler stance, and offered his master a light snack and perhaps a bath. The boy just shook his head and headed to his bedroom.

Hours later, the demon was still sitting on the earl's bedroom, on his favourite armchair. The lights were off, and only the weak moonlight illuminated the bed where Ciel was sleeping. Sebastian's eyes were fixed on him. He was curious of how the boy would react tonight. That's what he had said to himself. Alright, curious is an understatement, he decided.

And there they were, at last: the nightmares. Sebastian was expecting them. Ciel's head started to writhe and shake, and little whimpers escaped from his lips. The demon came nearer and sat on the bed. He stroked gently the boy's forehead; it seemed to cool under his hand, and Ciel's trembling calmed down a bit. Sebastian smiled fondly and took his master small hand in his bigger ones. The young earl moved closer and grabbed his middle with his free hand. This took the butler by surprise, but the boy looked relaxed and peaceful now, so he didn't dare to move. He just sighed and petted Ciel's hair with one hand, watching him closely. He could already smell his fragrance: alluring, yes, as it has always been, but now slightly spicier, complex. And even though the scent made his mouth water, it didn't make his hunger boost like some weeks ago, not this time.

Ciel had killed an innocent man. Well, more or less innocent. But the important facts were, one, that he had murdered him with his own hands. And two, that he had killed him out of anger and hatred, and not out of fear or weakness as the other time. Ciel's soul was evolving; with Sebastian's guide it could evolve still further, it could turn into a tantalising treasure… But wait, what am I saying? Ciel's soul is already a tantalising delicacy… It's perfect, why would I want to change it? He observed again the boy's sleeping form.

He was starting to come to terms with his charge's body; he acknowledged that he didn't feel disgusted or annoyed by its weakness or size any more. It was attached to Ciel, after all. And, feeling a sting in his guts, he thought: Ciel is just perfect. His body and soul, the whole of it. The entity that formed Ciel Phantomhive was perfect.

His next thought made him release the boy's arms and get up from the bed. He approached the window and looked at the moon, clearly seen high on the dark sky, round and cold and pale. Lonely, just like me. Because, what am I going to do when I finally get to eat Ciel Phantomhive? I won't have him around any more. He will cease to exist. And I will never find anyone like him, never. He had centuries of experience with human souls, he knew perfectly well what he was talking about. That level of attachment to a human, the one he was feeling right now, he had never felt it before. And look at that! A mere boy! An almost teenager! A flu could finish him, and still… Still his soul was worth of a king.

What could he do, then? He didn't want to lose Ciel. The demon started to pace the room, his eyes coming back to rest on his master's face now and then. He was decided, then: he would keep the boy. But how, how? It must be a way.

He suddenly stopped on his tracks. Of course, he grinned. A plan was slowly starting to shape in his old mind. And what was a butler's work, but making plans, and ensuring they work flawlessly?

Sorry for turning Sebastian into a dark character... I always feel that sometimes he is more human than Ciel, more emotional and compassionate.

There's a follow up coming, of course (I'm not so cruel as to leave it here!).