A/N: Heeeeeyyyyy! Welcome to another story by myself and cutedifferent93! :D We hope you enjoy this new story about everyone's favorite Demon and Reaper. ;)
Warnings: (overall) Violence, Blood, Ciel and Will bashing, language, angst, smut, and overdoses on fluff. (Anything else that isn't listed here that might come up will be noted in individual chapters)
Please enjoy!
Chapter 1
Grell Sutcliff strode through the burning streets of London, scythe dragging at his side. He had finished reaping the west side of the city quite quickly, but he wanted to do something else now. Grell grinned. A thought struck him – he hadn't seen his darling Sebby once!
Grell hopped up onto a somewhat stable roof and looked around with a determined frown. He couldn't see or sense any demons nearby. Grell sighed and began leaping from roof to roof, looking for the elusive demon. As he was bounding along, he spotted Undertaker. He hopped down in front of the retired Reaper with a hopeful grin.
"Undertaker! I'm glad I found you. Have you, by any chance, seen my Sebastian darling?" asked Grell, batting his eyelashes. The silver-haired reaper gave a smile.
"I haven't, my dear lady. But I have an idea of where you could find him." Undertaker's long nails tapped gently against his chin. Grell clasped his hands together and leaned forward.
"Could you tell me, please?" he asked, smiling excitedly.
"Hmm, perhaps. Though you do know I charge for information, my dear." Undertaker gave a little giggle. Grell pouted.
"Are you sure you can't just tell me this time?" he inquired, giving the Undertaker the puppy-dog eyes. Undertaker slid his long nails across Grell's cheek.
"Sorry, my dear, but where would I be if I just gave away information?" He smiled sweetly. Grell sighed and leaned back on his heels, trying to think of a joke. Suddenly one came to him.
"Alright…Little Willy in the best of sashes, fell in the fire and was burned to ashes. By and by the room grew chilly, but no-one wanted to poke up Willy," Grell recited. He didn't remember where he'd heard it, but it had been a little amusing. Undertaker burst into laughter.
"Wherever did you hear such a wonderfully morbid recital, my dear? Hahahaha."
Grell shrugged.
"I think I overheard another Reaper telling it to someone once. It was a while ago," he said with a smile. "Now, will you tell me if you've seen my Sebby?"
Undertaker got his laughter under control and curled his finger to bring Grell closer.
"Hehe, word is that master butler is no longer here. His job has been fulfilled and he went back home," he gave a slight chuckle. Grell's jaw dropped and his eyes widened.
"He's gone?" He was devastated. Grell had hoped Sebastian would stick around for at least a little while! He frowned and lightly bit at his lower lip. Now what would he do? Grell had to figure out a way to get his Sebby back. But how? Undertake gave a solemn look and placed his hand on Grell's shoulder. It was obvious the Reaper was upset.
"I'm afraid so, my dear."
Grell looked up at the taller Reaper.
"Is there any way to contact him? There has to be some way, right?" he pleaded. Undertaker thought for a moment.
"There are two ways, my dear; one, you could try getting into Hell yourself, although that is rather dangerous for a lady like yourself. Or two, you could try summoning him." An amused smile creased his lips. Grell perked up.
"I could summon him? How do I do that!?" he demanded, grabbing the front of the Undertaker's robes. Undertaker giggled momentarily before removing Grell's hands from himself.
"You would have to call him by his demon name, my lady."
Grell scowled.
"I don't know it! Damn….But, is it true that a lot of blood is necessary to summon them as well? I thought I'd heard that somewhere," he replied, tapping his foot. It didn't matter though, if he couldn't find Sebastian's real name. Grell was determined to find it though!
"Hm, that shouldn't be a problem for you. Or did you just finish working? Maybe some overtime is needed, hm?" Undertaker was clearly finding this amusing. "You could always go to a human library and look for a book, dear."
Grell glared up at Undertaker.
"Human books are always so unreliable on these matters! …But I'll try. Someone obviously managed to summon him, so there has to be information somewhere," he muttered the last bit to himself.
"Maybe you could even go to his last victim's home~ I would imagine the young master would have something on his butler." Undertaker gave a snort. Grell brightened.
"True! Thank you, Undertaker. You've been such a help," he replied, leaning up to give Undertaker a grateful kiss on the cheek. Grell hoped the brat had some books or something about demons in that Manor of his. Undertaker blushed gently.
"Aw, what a sweet little lady." He gave a little bow. "I hope you find what you need, my dear."
Grell giggled.
"Thank you," he said, and hurried off down the street.
Grell managed to leave London behind fairly quickly, and was soon rushing down the long road towards Phantomhive Manor. Though he would search to the ends of the Earth to find a way to his beloved Sebastian, he certainly hoped there would be something at the Manor. Grell grinned. He certainly didn't mind tearing the place apart to find what he needed – especially the brat's room and study.
Grell came to a stop outside the gates. The Phantomhive Manor had been caught up in the fire! Most of it was burnt down! Grell swore and leapt over the gates and ran up to the wreckage.
"Please let there still be something left in here," he murmured to himself, as he began stepping lightly through the remains of the Manor.
Grell looked everywhere, but the entire place was a mess. As he picked through what was once the library, something caught his eye. Grell knelt down and brushed away some of the rubble and ashes to reveal a metal ring attached to the floorboards. He grabbed it and tugged. The floorboards creaked, but didn't budge. Grell growled and tugged with all his might. With a groan of protest, the floorboards lifted up to reveal a set of stone steps leading down into darkness.
"Oh? How interesting," he commented. Grell looked around and picked up a burning piece of wood as a makeshift torch. Hoping this wasn't a waste of time, he began descending the stairs.
Grell made his way to the base of the stairs swiftly. He stopped and held the torch up. A stone tunnel stretched out far beyond the reach of his light. Grell huffed and began walking. The clicking of his heels echoed all around, making Grell feel a little paranoid. It almost sounded like someone else was walking with him. He shook his head, knowing it was nothing.
The tunnels seemed to go on forever. Every once in a while he seemed to enter a circular room, but they were empty. Eventually he came to one the branched in two directions. Grell frowned and debated which one he should go through. This entire place didn't feel safe, and so he was sure one way would most likely lead to a trap. Grell tapped his foot. Eventually he made a choice and headed down the tunnel to the left.
Very on edge now, Grell walked carefully down the new tunnel. After what felt like forever he entered a new room. Grell's eyes lit up at the sight of many books and scrolls.
"This looks promising," he said, making his way over to a bookshelf. Grell browsed through the books. Most of them seemed to be on the secrets of the Phantomhive family. Grell supposed they'd be interesting if he cared. As he was skimming over the bookshelves, he spotted a book that looked more recently disturbed.
Grell grabbed it and began searching through the pages. It seemed to be a book on Black Magic. He flipped past a page that caught his attention and quickly flipped back. The text was in an ancient language. Grell was glad he'd paid at least enough attention in the Reaper Academy to be able to read it. As his eyes scanned the page his grin grew. This was exactly what he was looking for! Grell twirled happily and tucked the book into his coat.
With a happy squeal, Grell hurried out of the room and back down the tunnel. It took quite a while but eventually he was back at the stairs. Grell made his way up and out into the library. Grell licked his lips – now he needed to find somewhere to slaughter some sacrifices.
A small, lone figure stood in the wreckage silently. The wind blew the sunny blonde locks gently as the person looked around solemnly.
Grell froze. Was that one of the servants? He had honestly thought they might have died in the fire. Grell stepped over the ruins as quietly as possible. It probably would be a bad idea if the boy saw him. The boy walked over to the ruins of the kitchen and sighed heavily. He turned and looked up towards the master bedroom's ruins. He sniffled and removed his hat, holding it to his chest.
Grell was almost out of the rubble. Unfortunately, heels were not the best for moving carefully. His heel got caught on something and Grell let out a yelp as he fell face first into the ground, his head smacking into what might have once been a pillar. The boy turned around, seeming in a daze.
"Oh hello, I didn't know anyone else was here." He stepped up to Grell with a sad smile. Grell grimaced as he sat up and rubbed his head. He slowly turned to look at the blond boy.
"I was merely looking around. I'll just be off," Grell said with a smile as he got to his feet. Finny nodded and gave a small wave. He turned and finished walking through the ruins of the manor. Grell managed to get out of the rubble and briefly glanced back. He felt a little bad for…Finny he thought it was. The poor boy seemed rather sad. Grell sighed and left the manor behind.
After a while, Grell hopped up into a tree and pulled out his To Die list. He hoped there was somewhere else that needed reaping and he could use it to make the necessary sacrifice. Unfortunately, Grell saw no-one new on the list. He yawned and opened a portal to the Reaper Realm. Grell couldn't be tired if he wanted to go through with summoning Sebastian, so he decided he'd do it the next day.
Grell entered the portal and landed lightly outside the apartments. He trudged into the building and slowly made his way towards his room. Ronald stood leaning against Grell's door, a bored look on his face and his lawnmower at his side. He looked up when he saw the red Reaper approaching.
"Hey, Grell, where ya been?"
Grell gave his trainee a sad little smile.
"I was looking for Sebby. I didn't find him, though…What are you doing outside my room, Ronnie, dear?" he replied, approaching the young man. Ronald raised an eyebrow and sighed. He hated the little nicknames Grell gave him but he learned to just go with it.
"Waitin' for you to get back. Why were ya looking for 'im?"
Grell pouted.
"Because he never said good bye! And you know how I feel about him," he explained with a sigh. "So, why were you waiting for me?"
Ronald chuckled to himself. He would never understand Grell.
"I have an hour to kill before a date and William told me to come bug you or he'd give me overtime." He set his jaw in irritation as he tapped the tow of his shoe against the floorboards. Grell shook his head.
"Will is such a slave driver," he simpered, moving to open his door. "I suppose you could bother me for a few minutes. Would you like some tea, Ronnie?"
Ronald moved to the side with a smug smile.
"Sure, thanks."
Grell led Ronald into his apartment and made his way into the tiny kitchen to make some tea.
"So, which lady are you going to fail to woo this time, dear?" he teasingly asked. Ronald linked his arms behind his head and he moseyed inside.
"Hey! I'm not going to fail; I already wooed her into a date. I'd hardly call that a failure." He looked around at all the red. No matter how many times he came here, he could never get used to the man's - almost- unhealthy obsession with the colour. Grell laughed.
"I'm only riling you up, hon. Though, you really ought to find someone permanent. Don't you want to find a nice girl to settle with?" he replied, bringing Ronald the tea when it was finished. Grell wasn't as bad as he had pretended to be at making tea. It wasn't as good as Sebastian's, but it was good. Ronald's face scrunched up.
"Why would I do that? I'd rather have options than have to be committed to one person. That's boring." He sat on the red sofa and crossed his legs, sipping his tea. He had to admit, Grell made some pretty damn good tea. Grell shrugged and sat beside him with his own tea.
"Maybe it'll be different if you meet the right girl, hm? So, what were you doing to tick off Will?" he asked with a smile. Ronald rolled his eyes.
"I don' know. He's so uptight an' boring it doesn't take much." He wasn't sure how Grell had survived William for as long as he had. The guy really needed a vacation. Grell nodded.
"True. He needs to relax," he agreed. Ronald looked at Grell.
"How did you survive him? I mean it must've been Hell havin' to complete your final with 'im."
Grell frowned at the memory.
"It was annoying. I had better grade than him in all but one of the categories and He was the one promoted! He's not a caring individual in the least! Why would anyone want him in charge?" he growled, gripping his tea cup so hard it nearly broke. Ronald's eyes widened. He had always thought Grell to be too flamboyant to get angry. Apparently he was wrong.
"Ok, ok. Sorry." He held a hand up in defense. Grell set his cup down angrily.
"He had the nerve to beat me up even further after my fight with Sebastian! I nearly passed out! He's always hitting me, the bastard," he complained. Grell really hated Will sometimes…most times. At least Sebby was mostly nice to him after the Madam Red incident.
Ronald decided staying silent was the best thing to do at this point. He had heard that Grell was all over William and that the red Reaper had even saved his life back then. Now was probably not the best time to bring that up though.
Grell realized he'd been ranting in front of Ronald and blushed.
"I'm sorry for that. I've just had a long day…" he said, leaning back against the couch. Ronald looked like he had seen a ghost but smiled anyway.
"No problem. That's kinda why I came here," he chuckled. Grell raised an eyebrow.
"You came to hear me rant?" he laughed quietly.
"No I came to rant. Ya kinda stole my thunder there," Ronald chuckled, still a little unsure if Grell was back to his normal flamboyancy. Grell blushed.
"Oh. My apologies, dear. Go ahead, I'm happy to listen," he replied with a small smile. Ronald chuckled, giving a wave of his hand.
"No, no, you pretty much covered everything." He probably wouldn't ever say it out loud, but he kind of agreed with Grell; William should not have been promoted. Grell tilted his head a bit.
"Are you sure? I want you to feel free to talk to me about anything," he said cheerily, patting Ronald's knee in a friendly gesture. Ronald smiled.
"Nah, I woulda been saying the same stuff," he admitted- to himself- that Grell was really sweet despite everyone basically thinking he was a waste of space. It was one of the things Ronald secretly admired about him; he never let anything get him down for much longer than a few minutes.
Grell nodded.
"Alright. So…when is your date?" he inquired, picking up his tea cup again and sipping daintily from it. Ronald looked up at the clock and stood.
"I ought to get going now actually. Thanks for the tea." He gave a smile as he showed himself out. Grell smiled.
"Have fun, Ronnie," he called after him. Grell stood and cleaned up the tea cups. He yawned and made his way to his room, which was completely red and very ornate. Grell had made a canopy for his little bed and long red curtains hung from it.
He took the book from his coat and set it on the bed before changing into his nightgown. Grell crawled into bed and picked up the book again. He eventually fell asleep, the book resting on his chest.
Grell awoke late the next day. He swore as he threw on his usual outfit, stashed the book in his coat, and dashed out of his apartment. Grel took out his To Die List and scanned it quickly. Luckily he could make it to his first reaping on time still if he could get out of the Reaper Realm without being caught and scolded by Will first.
"Sutcliff. You're getting a rather late start," William's cold and emotionless voice sounded behind Grell. Grell sighed and turned. He should have known he couldn't escape.
"Well after everything that happened last night I was rather tired. It won't happen again," Grell replied, giving Will a fake smile. William raised his eyebrow.
"YOU had an eventful night? I find that hard to believe." He pushed his glasses up with his scythe. Grell pouted.
"You know I helped reap all those souls that Angel was trying to collect! And then Ronald wanted to talk to me so, yes, I had a long night," he said with a huff of annoyance. William sauntered up to Grell, face unreadable.
"Stop pouting and act like an adult." He pushed Grell's bottom lip back into place and wiped his gloved finger on his vest. "And tell me what Knox said to you."
Grell turned his back on Will.
"The conversation was between me and my trainee, and is confidential. Now if you're done interrogating me, I have souls to reap," he said snippily. William set his jaw.
"He may be your trainee, but YOU work for ME. Which, in case you've forgotten, means you answer me." He gripped the back of the red coat; keeping the smaller man in place. Grell glared back at Will.
"If you must know, we talked about the date he was going to last night. Now let me go you brute!" he demanded, trying to pull his coat from Will's grip. William's grip didn't loosen.
"Would you like to rephrase that request, Sutcliff?" his voice dripped with superiority. Grell sighed.
"Fine. Would you please let me go?" he requested, though he continued to glare. William's grip tightened slightly then released.
"Get to work, Sutcliff."
Grell bared his teeth at Will for a moment and quickly left. He managed to get his work done on time, and by the time he finished his reaping for the day, it was evening. Grell needed to find someplace to kill people. He'd been hoping for a mass death on his To Die List, but he had no luck.
An idea came to Grell and he grinned deviously. He had managed to kill only a few prostitutes with Madam Red. But on his own…Grell giggled and began hopping from roof to roof of the town he'd been reaping in.
Soon enough, Grell came to a brothel. He peered in through the windows, making sure he knew where everyone was. Satisfied that he knew where everyone was, he quickly blocked the exits and found an open window into the main room.
Grell crashed spectacularly through the window, chainsaw roaring to life. The women and men inside screamed. Grell laughed gleefully as he slashed the whores and their patrons to ribbons. Blood splattered everywhere and it was absolutely beautiful. Grell tore through the brothel, massacring everyone in sight.
When he finally finished, Grell skipped back downstairs, covered in the blood of his victims. He pulled out the book and began setting everything up. Grell knelt in the middle of the gore and began making symbols on the ground with the blood, chanting the words from the book.
"Anakut! I summon you to me!" he called out, finishing the last symbol. A shower of black feathers rained down as the room went dark and the candles flickered out. The feathers rained down thicker and soon, Sebastian stood before Grell, but he was different: huge, black wings jutted from his shoulder blades, and horns curled from his skull.
Grell was rather shocked, but it was quickly replaced by glee. He could tell it was Sebastian. He jumped up.
"It worked!" he exclaimed, just stopping himself from hugging Sebastian. Sebastian turned; eyebrows raised in surprise. What the Hell was Grell doing summoning him? He sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Grell, what are you doing?" His fangs shone brightly off the glimmering light of the candles. Grell grinned.
"I couldn't just let you leave without saying goodbye could I?" he teased, moving close to playfully poke Sebastian's chest. Sebastian looked at the reaper, unamused.
"You called me back to Earth for that? Somehow I doubt that's the full reason." Sebastian was actually rather surprised Grell didn't seem afraid of him, given his appearance in his true form. Grell giggled.
"You know me too well, Sebby," he cooed, wriggling excitedly. "You're right. I want to make a deal."
Sebastian was taken aback. Grell didn't mean...make a contract. Did he?
"What do you mean, Grell?" He looked down at the red-headed Reaper. As annoying as he may be, he was brave. Summoning a demon, known or not, was very dangerous for humans let alone Reapers.
Grell leaned closer.
"I want to make a contract of course," he said. Grell was somewhat worried that Sebastian would get ticked off and kill him, but, as far as he was concerned it was worth it to try. Sebastian's eyes widened. For a moment he wondered if Grell had finally gone off the deep end.
"Why do you think I would agree to a contract made with a Reaper, Grell? And any answer having to do with your "love" will not be accepted." Reapers did have souls, but they were a Demon's arch enemy. Grell pouted, then giggled.
"I have access to an entire building full of souls, darling. I thought you might enjoy some of them," he purred, leaning fully against Sebastian's front. "In return for doing anything I want you to, I'll bring you souls from the Reaper Library."
Sebastian struggled to keep his interest under control.
"Grell, you clearly have no idea of the trouble you could cause were I to accept this offer." He pushed Grell gently away. Grell shook his head.
"I don't care if I'll get in trouble. I'll do everything I can to avoid it, of course, but if I do get in trouble it will be worth it," he replied earnestly, grasping Sebastian's hand in his own bloody ones. Sebastian took a moment to look Grell up and down, the coating of blood made him look rather... Sebastian shook his head clear of the thoughts and sighed.
"What would you want from me? As if I didn't already know," he muttered with a roll of his eyes. Grell gave him a Cheshire cat grin.
"Companionship? A little help here and there with my paperwork maybe…and anything else I might think of," he explained, batting his eyelashes. Sebastian mulled the offer over. Seeing as Grell wasn't human, he wouldn't need as much protection as the Phantomhive brat.
"When would the contract come to an end?" He smirked slightly as one of the false eyelashes started to come undone. His claw carefully pushed it back into place. Grell blushed. Honestly, he hadn't thought about the length of the contract. Grell didn't want to be too much of a bother to Sebastian, so despite wanting to be with him forever, he would have to make do with a much shorter time.
"Two years? I can avoid being discovered that long I'm sure," he replied. Sebastian blinked in surprise. He was so sure Grell would've asked for eternity.
"Two years? That's all?" He asked, baffled. Grell looked down at the ground.
"You can stay longer if you want, of course. Obviously I'd love for you to stay forever, but, I wouldn't force you to," he said quietly. Sebastian cocked his head to the side. Grell was being...meek and calm. Why?
"Why are you being so...shy?"
Grell shrugged and looked back up at him.
"I don't know," he giggled suddenly. "You bring out the strangest sides of me."
Sebastian snorted.
"Ok, fine," he agreed. After all, how bad could it be? Grell lit up, grinning like the mad man he was.
"Really!?" he exclaimed. Grell squealed and threw his arms around Sebastian's middle in a hug. Sebastian cringed but allowed the crushing hug. At least this wouldn't be like serving a human, he would be getting souls on a daily basis. Sebastian grinned at the thought, fangs dripping with saliva. Maybe serving a Reaper wouldn't be that bad.
Grell looked up and smirked.
"You look like you want to devour something," he commented, walking his fingers up Sebastian's chest. "Anything in particular you'd like?"
Sebastian chuckled, staying Grell's wondering hand.
"Unless you have a soul in your pocket, I shall wait." Sebastian's form changed back to his human butler, red eyes glimmering. Grell nearly squealed again, but held back.
"Alright. We can go to Madam Red's manor. I like to stay their sometimes. Besides, it'll be easier to hide you there than in my apartment in the Reaper Realm," he said as he pulled away; though, he quickly took hold of Sebastian's hand. Sebastian nodded and kneeled in a bow.
"As you wish, my lady." He figured humoring Grell couldn't hurt. Grell did squeal that time.
