It was around midnight when Grell finally made it back to Headquarters. Granted, it had certainly not been the latest he had been out that week...but he was still completely exhausted. No one was there, he believed, until he noticed a line of light beneath William's door.

Grell plastered on a smile, and flung open the door. "Will! Darling!"

William continued working on the papers before him, not even glancing up. Grell pouted slightly, before William spoke. "Sutcliff. Remove yourself from my office."

Grell slunk forward, his fingers lightly dancing across the stacks of papers. "But why, Will? It is ever so late, and the office is empty...Oh! What fun we could have!" Grell hugged himself, swaying, just the thought making him lightheaded.

Or maybe that was due to the lack of food, or energy, or-

No. It was due to his love for William. He was sure of that.

Suddenly, he yelped, falling backwards. William was standing, holding his scythe. The dim light danced off William's glasses in a way that could be considered-both-handsome and terrifying.

The elder of the two was obviously tired, and not in the mood for Grell's typical antics.

Grell usually threw away what other people were in the mood for-after all, neither Sebastian nor William were ever in the mood for flirting or any of that. But after the Jack the Ripper trials...

William had been acting even more hateful towards Grell. It was almost as if he felt betrayed...After all, he was Grell's superior, and (though he would never admit it) semi-kinda-not really-but maybe-friend. For Grell to have gone behind his back and break so many important Reaper laws was a horrible betrayal -at least in William's eyes.

William had just stared at him coldly at the trial-there had been no emotion, fake or otherwise. Grell had figured it was just for show-William, after all, had to keep up his tough-guy facade.

But then after the fact, William still didn't look his way, despite how loud Grell had shouted for him.

And Grell figured that this was William's own personal punishment for him-that it would dampen Grell's spirit, or something like that.

But it just kept going and going all week long. William refused to say a word to Grell, and never once looked at him. That stung a bit.

But tonight William had caved, and had talked AND looked at him. But those words had held pure hatred. And those eyes had looked so disgusted...

"W...Will..." Grell paused. When William didn't immediately snap at him, he continued. "I um...haven't seen much of you this past week..."

"Perhaps I arranged that happenstance."

Grell nearly flinched. "I...well, you see, I've missed you-"

William looked down at a small file, before picking it up. "I have another assignment for you."

Grell stared at the file. He didn't feel angry, or sad, or frustrated, really. Just tired. Tired and numb.

"The soul is to be collected sometime within the next two hours, preferably as close to the Death Time as possible," William continued, as he set he started organizing a few of the stacks of files and papers on his desk, more neatly. He didn't even look up at Grell as he pushed the file across the desk.

Grell reached out a trembling hand to the file, picking it up. When he turned to the door, William continued his task, of straightening up, seemingly unfazed.

"Do you hear me?" Grell questioned quietly-almost timidly. "Do you see me?"

William didn't answer. Instead, he said-cold as ever-"You should get going, if you are to make it to the other side of London in time."

Grell felt so very sick in that moment. He could care less for the state of his health, or well-being, or even his looks (which was out of character for him, within itself). He wanted William to be there for him, to care for him (at least as a friend-he really needed a friend right now), or to at least display some emotion. Grell felt himself falling apart, and he wanted William to be his paste, and hold him together. He didn't care if William liked him as a boyfriend, or a friend, or even as an acquaintance. The fact was that Grell needed William-needed that one constant in his life.

Grell turned from the door, letting the file drop to the floor. Before William could reprimand him for his clumsiness, Grell threw his arms around Will, holding him as tight as possible (almost as though Grell was trying to make them meld together-make the become one).

"William..." he whispered. "Please...please, I'm sorry for betraying your trust-"

"-unhand me-"

"-but you've got to understand Will! I wasn't in my right mind-"

"-Enough."

William pushed Grell away from him, causing the later to nearly topple over. William was glaring at Grell with such ferocity, that for the first time, Grell wondered if William truly had a soul.

"Enough is enough, Sutcliff. Now remove yourself from my office, Reap the soul assigned to you, and don't come in here again, or I will allow the Elder Reapers to go along with the punishment initially given to you."

Grell had no idea what the Elders' original plans hd been...but the way William said that...it was almost as though William had been the one to veto their decision.

Grell looked up at William from his spot on the floor. The man's eyes-if Grell was not mistaken-did have some emotion in them. Something...but then he turned away.

"I really am sorry-"

"Sorry isn't good enough!" William nearly shouted, as he whirled around to face Grell. His glasses had slid down his nose, and a few hairs had escaped from his slicked-back hairdo. But his eyes...they showed such anger and pain, mixed together perfectly to create a look that signaled that he had been betrayed by someone close to him.

The two Reapers stared at each other for nearly a whole minute, as though they were both trying to communicate the words they could not speak through their eyes. But then William turned away, adjusting his glasses and pushing the hairs into place.

"You should get going."

Grell didn't say a word, as he picked up the file, and left.

A/N Sorry for the long-ish wait ((it was actually pretty short, for me)). I have like...5 multi-chaps going, and I'm trying to update them once a week...Yeah...

Well anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks to all the reviews, favorites, and follows! *Poz hug*

Please review!