The breeze was coming from the west tonight and she adjusted a few of her rifles as she checked her perimeter on the roof. The hidden weapons were a combined effort between her and Bard. She would make sure they were working, and he supplied the bullets. A weapons expert in his own right, the cook was always eager to add new pieces to their rooftop armory. She passed a bigger machine gun and chuckled. Bard must have convinced Finny to carry it up the flight of stairs in the middle of the night earlier in the week. She looked at Sebastian and he raised an eyebrow.

"So not something you knew about," she said, indicating the gun.

"No," he swiftly said. "But if it keeps the young master safe, I can overlook the fact it brings the whole aesthetic of the roof down."

"You are too kind," she chuckled. "I'm done on this wing," she added. Her glasses were off and she watched as he stepped over her wires, the ones that connected to a cog machine she had designed that allowed her to shoot the twelve guns on this side of the roof all at once, or in different intervals. His movements were graceful and delicate, well meaning and sure. She caught him looking at her and she ducked her head, picking up her rifle and did the same.

They walked the length of the main hall, checking the water run off spouts, far above the ground, checking the grenade launchers and the few secure, hidden rifles she had also placed.

"I forget how many weapons are up here," Sebastian said as they arrived on the east wing. "A fine amount."

"When you live your life taking lives, you know a thing or two about protecting one. At all costs," she added as she checked the trigger wire on the rifles. She slung the strap of the one she had just gotten repaired closer to her chest. "An assassin knows how to read the lay of the land and knows where the vulnerabilities could come from. I need to make sure no one surprises me." She walked over to where Sebastian stood and smiled. "I'm not simply a girl looking for a life to defend. I am a woman with a few lives to protect."

He smiled and offered his gloved hand, helping her to smoothly and carefully step over the barrier of sandbags, hiding the extra ammo needed to restock the rifles. He did not let her hand go even as they walked slowly back toward the door to the attic, near their own quarters under the roof. He held the door open and let her go in first, descending the stairs quiet as a mouse behind her, her own feet barely making a sound. She stood still at the bottom of the stairs and Sebastian placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mey-Rin?"

"I thought I saw something move," she said, crossing the hall to the uppermost window of the house. The hall was the same as the three below, except not as well furnished and unpainted. The wooden boards were seen through some of the layers of white plaster that held them together in some places. She peered out and held her breath. The tree tops swayed in the breeze. She looked down a bit more and saw a flash of light. She pushed back and found herself colliding with the strong chest of Sebastian. "A scope."

"Shall we get Baldroy?"

Mey-Rin clenched her hands, her anger once more boiling. "No. I don't want them involved."

"My dear, I strongly suggest -"

"No," she said sternly and glared at him. "If it is my past coming back. I… I need to face it."

He bowed his head and smiled. "Of course. But may I at least offer my services? If it is your past, I wish it to remain in the past as much as you. You simply are not that woman anymore."

"I know," she hissed. But deep down she wasn't too convinced. "If you wish to come, I will not stop you."

"Thank you," he said, seeming to want to add something to the statement.

She shook her head and reached under her maid uniform and yanked the ribbon that was tucked into her garter belt off her left leg and wrapped it around the front of her skirt, bunching it and exposing a bit of her thigh. She hooked it into her apron belt and took off for the stairs to descend to the lower level, shifting into the mode of an assassin, not stopping for a moment to remind her that a man - Sebastian - was standing near. Of course she had done the same exact movements so many times before, she was sure he hardly noticed. Or if he did, he was too much of a gentleman to stare or even acknowledge the exposed flesh.

She wanted to sneak into the woods if at all possible. The element of surprise was her best tactic. Her eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness and she grabbed the case of ammo Bard kept by the back door bushes. If Sebastian was surprised about that, he did not show it on his face as he hurried behind her. They moved quietly and effortlessly. Mey-Rin forgot that she was with Sebastian, the butler, not a fellow man who was trained to be quiet and stealthy. When money was low, George would have her and Anthony go out and pick pocket. She learned how to be quiet and unassuming, something she wished she could do with her heavy frames while she worked to protect and repay her young master. In his house she was clumsy and foolish. Here, in the woods, or on the roof, she was confident and sure. She stopped and turned to watch Sebastian crouch beside her.

"About 20 meters, ahead and to the right. About five feet off the ground," she whispered. He looked and nodded.

"Moonlight off glass," he whispered back. She smiled.

"Good eyesight."

He chuckled a bit and cocked his head. "You are not the only one can do extraordinary things."

She snorted; she had noticed the eclectic and small staff were specialized in defending territory. She and Bard were weapons and strategy. Finny was muscles and loyalty. Sebastian was swift and sure. The young master, the general on the filed, placing them where they needed to be.

"Your plan?"

She turned back and thought. "If it is George, he may not have told anyone, and came himself to see if he could get me. However, if he did say something," she turned back to Sebastian and sighed. "It could be Gregory - he was the biggest guy we had and could choke a grown man in mere seconds."

"Shall I go and see?"

Mey-Rin smiled a bit at him. "You have done so much already, Mister Sebastian."

"Mey-Rin, you are deserving of all of it. Please, place me where I can help you," he said, bowing his head as he did when he accepted orders from their young master.

She put a hand on his shoulder and could feel the powerful muscles twitch under his coat. "Bring him to me."

He lifted his head and she could see his eyes were bright and gleaming. "My pleasure," he whispered, sending a shiver down her back. He got up, liquid in his movements and slipped into the woods to retrieve the intruder.