"IT'S SHOWTIME!" announced Joker.

The loud, haunting, mystical circus music penetrated Lily's mind to the point it became like a hallucinogenic drug the way it warped her young brain. Her mind was awash of everything light-hearted, fancy and all the joy of the circus. Her vision altered so she could only view the world as a fantasy land. The fantasy land that laid in the realm of pure imagination that only a ticket to a circus could get you.

The sight was immediately filled with what look like the most delicate and intricate of lace twisting and swirling in front of her pretty face. Upon removal Lily saw it was a white parasol. It reminded her of the parasol held by the tight-rope walker in her book, but the owner looked so different. She was so beautiful and dainty, adorned in white with roses of matching colour upon her head, she continued to dance with the parasol, stepping ever so gently like a ballerina, her tiny feet barely grazed the blanket of snow covering the ground, each graceful leap taking her higher and higher up into the mauve patterned sky, spreading multicoloured confetti as she went. Lily's attention that was fixed upon what she decided was a prancing wingless fairy was only interrupted when two butterflies, one pink and one green, flew in opposite directions across the fairy's path.

Lily instantly forgot the white fairy who had since disappeared and instead focused on the stunning performance of the two new entertainers. The butterflies, perched upon their swinging wooden planks, swayed back and forth on their trapezes before elegantly falling backwards so they was only hanging by their knees curved firmly around the beam. They each in turn swung over to greet her to their own special fantasy world.

"Welcome..." came the sing-song girly voice of the pink butterfly

"... to Dreamland." finished the one in green.

The awe-struck child gaped in amazement at personal show they was putting on just for her. Their elegance and bravery kept her eyes trained on them swinging and flying so freely, soaring high and somersaulting without no fear of falling for the other was always there to catch. She was so mesmerised by the act she hardly noticed as a prosthetic skeleton hand came to rest upon her shoulder. The ginger ring-leader's hot breath tickled her small ear as he leant in close to whisper softly to her.

"Don't be afread, now. Past the knap of the hill, thy chariot awaits to take thee to dreamland. Off 'ee be, now, my sweet," Joker kissed Lily on the cheek, he couldn't resist. For some reason, her sweetness shone through to him instantly, he felt something he had never felt before during an abduction – was it guilt? He for some reason did not want to take this adorable little girl, but it seemed to him more than just because it was a terrible thing to steal a child, he had stolen dozens of others without hesitation so why was his hand firmly holding her back though he had instructed her to take the path to carriage that stood ready to transport her. It was more, like he had an instinct to love and protect her. Maybe it was because he was so shocked at seeing a child of such a young age full of such beauty, that she was a too rarer jewel to damage.

However, Lily's brown furry boots with the two large buttons seemed to have developed a life force of their own, courtesy of that enchantingly addictive tune, navigating her across the untouched layer of crisp snow, walled off each side by rows of long curly, winding vines sprouting large flower buds at regular intervals to the grand, elegant pearl-white horse-drawn carriage that looked exactly like it been driven directly out of her Cinderella story book. Joker, still full of the new apprehensive sensation running through him, caved as always to his Father's abhorrent demands yet the strange feeling of a need to protect her remained; riddled with confusion to which he pushed away in denial, did what he felt was the least he could do in this puzzling situation – he took hold of her tiny hand in his while the other was placed securely around her back as she joyfully stumbled forward to her promised adventure to dreamland.

The ginger juggler, still as ever the kind gentleman with manners even in this circumstance, once the pair had arrived at the princess style carriage, Joker opened the small door with the pink framed window, which automatically released the golden steps to aid her inside. It was just as she was placing her foot on the first stair that it happened.

The loud shrill call of a policeman's whistle cut through the circus melody, halting the tune instantly however it's damage had been done, Lily had been totally lost in her dream-like fantasy state. When the policeman saw the little child was merely seconds away from becoming the next name on the kidnapped list, when he of course ran to save her as his job and duty dictated, Lily saw only a cuddly giant polar bear, complete with truncheon and hat, ambling towards her and the kindly handsome piper whose hands still rested protectively on her.

"Mr. Bear! Do you need something?" Lily inquired warmly.

"What's the matter?" asked the officer extremely confused. Why was a child being kidnapped so jubilant, merry and laughing? Why was the abductor so calm and composed? He'd been caught red-handed yet made no movement to escape arrest. He stood instead with a soft smile plastered on his features. And what was those heavy, thumping footsteps?

The policeman only had seconds to see what was creating such pounding steps. His face dropped in sheer horror, not at the sight of the giant but rather at the realisation of his impending death as the bald, fire-breathing Jumbo of a man raised a heavy mallet which he brought down with all his full strength and force down on his head. The blood that squirted from the decapitated body made little Lily chortled gleefully at the sight of a polar bear shooting out colourful party streamers from his neck.

All the other officers on duty that evening who had been summoned to the area to search for the missing noble, responded instantly to the deceased policeman's whistle for back-up as they all descended like a swarm. Everyone last one of them stood back and gaped in shock at the sight that greeted them:- the far end of the alley stood a ginger haired man cloaked in a purple cape, standing by a black carriage with their quarry snuggled up happily by his side; between them lay the headless corpse of their dear friend and workmate surrounded by a puddle of thick red liquid; standing by his feet smiling sweetly at them was the cute blonde teen who welcomed them with a barrage of daggers aimed straight at their hearts.

Dagger, giving Lily his performance by showing demonstrated his skills now by juggling the mini sharp knives before throwing many at once, cartwheeling and jumping while hurling them mid-stunt and still managing to hit his targets spot on. Lily blushed when he flirtatiously looked over his shoulder to wink at her. He's so cute! Again she happily cheered as this cute boy was playing his own form of ten-pin bowling with the herd of polar bears. Instead of bowling with the pretty star-patterned balls however he hurtled them at the bears causing them to to also spurt out numerous trails of bright party streamers upon impact before toppling to the ground.

"Spiffing!" Lily complimented him.

The crack of the whip, a candy sweet whip, encircled tightly like a scarf around the neck of one polar bear spinning him like a child's spinning top crashing him head first due to a lack of balance into a brick wall, again giving off the same party streamers. The striped toy kitten called Betty pounced on the last white bear left, tickling him over and over with clawed paws before finally licking his face off.

"Go on, me beauty. Thy chariot's ready," urged Joker, hand outstretched to her in offer of help up the golden steps to her royal carriage, her passport to the world of pure imagination that she had just witnessed a snippet of. Gladly nodding and accepting she climbed up to take her seat on the plush seats but no before Joker could place one last kiss on that rosy plump warm cheek, "Farewell. My sweet."

Over the hills and far away was exactly where she was transported too.

X-x-x-x-x-x

Tonight was unlike any other. The normal procedure after a child abduction was for the troupe to return quickly, get to their respective tents and end up drifting to sleep before their heads had hit the pillow, for two reasons: a) going about the normal night-time routine helped avoid any suspicion from the rest of the circus cast and b) even though extraordinary talented, the troupe was still humans that tire and need to restore energy after strenuous activity so was genuinely exhausted from the actual evening's performance and then kidnap.

However, an urgent issue had arisen upon their return that needed tending to immediately so here they all were, gathered in the big top to be away from any unwanted eavesdroppers. The catastrophe? The abduction went smoothly, as did the journey back to the circus site, no-one saw them return and the only witnesses, the policeman had been finished off but someone, some unknown person knew they were kidnappers for when Joker went to rest his blood ran cold upon finding the letter instructing of the abduction of Ciel Phantomhive was missing. If neither he nor any of the first-stringers had it – who did? Who had discovered their dark secret?

"There was awful lot of coppers tonight," remarked Wendy, "they must be on to us. Whoever it is musta alerted them!"

"But they wouldn't of known we'd be there tonight Wendy, the letter only mentioned Ciel," said Dagger

"Coppers coulda joined up the dots and put on look out for us," added Peter

"Or already on their way here to arrest us." claimed Jumbo.

"Instead of getting carried away, we should focus on who it could be who took it. And you know Joker who the only one who it could be,2 said Beast scared.

Joker knew, the solemn look and third brandy in a row was proof he knew the only person it could have been. Of course the other troupe members had come to the same conclusion but was scared to bring up the name of the viable culprit. The only other person who'd ventured, and spent a lot time in Joker's tent.

"Being a Phantomhive, the Queen's guard-dog, she has Scotland Yard literally in the palm of her hand," said Jumbo "she sent them!"

"And it was her brother that was named on the paper," added Wendy.

"No." replied the anxious circus host, taking a long swig of his drink, "she chose me. She chose Noah's Ark. Her loyalty is to us."

"You got more balls than brain Joke!" snapped Peter.

"Listen brother," came the soft voice of Doll, placing her hand on his arm in calming gesture, "I'm sorry but no matter how you look it at it, Michelle is the only one that could of took the letter from Father. But, I don't think she would betray us either, I saw the way she looked at you, you simply can not fake an expression of such love. My opnion is she found the letter but destroyed it to protect us."

"Doll..." Joker's violet eyes rested on Doll's one light blue one and smiled in appreciation.

"To be honest Senpai, as much as I agree with ol' Doll, we dunno for sure what's happened," mentioned Dagger, "we can't judge Michelle until we know for sure."

"Whatever the reason, Joker we need a plan and soon."

"It will be dangerous to stay here, as soon as Michie returns we leave," aswered Joker.

"And Ciel? Do we just give up on him?"

"No. Father wants him therefore we must get him. It's easier and safer to get rid of him instantly."

"I thought before 'ee advised agasint it incase your Michelle was there."

"It's a chance we 'ave to take. If she's there we are skilled enough to stay out of sight, keep her out of it completely. She will never know we was there."

"But Joker, if Ciel is any way aware of us, then he will be ready waiting. It won't be safe. It's literally suicide to go there now! I say we just leave."

"Beast, if w e do not abide by Father's wishes and carry out his orders, it will be suicide not only for us, not only the rest of the circus but our brothers and sisters too.." Joker stood and took Beast firmly by the arms, "have thee forgotten they was not as lucky to escape the orphanage as us."

"I apologise Joker," muttered Beast.

"Can we just leave already? Talkin' about it ain't gonna do nothin'! Just delay us longer. Let's go get the Phantomhive brat!" retorted the fiery Peter.

"SHHHHHHH!" exclaimed Doll suddenly, hand clamping shut over Peter's big mouth, "I think I can hear someone outside."

A sudden uneasiness fell over them as they also could hear someone scurrying about outside the big top, calling Joker's name.

This is it. We've been caught!

X-x-x-x-x-x

Joker as leader, bravely took it upon himself to investigate first. If it was indeed any member of Scotland Yard snooping around after getting wind of the troupe's secret abductions, he would take full responsbility, take the full consquences if it meant sparing his brothers and sisters lives.

Cicking his head only slighlty arounf the corner of the entrance of the main circus tent he called out to let whoever it was know he was here. Taking a deep breath, he boldly stepped out when he still heard the voice again calling for him.

"Errr, hullo? Umm. I'm Joker...," he uttered, scanning the area but seeing no-one. Not until hands clamped tightly around his waist. A million thoughts raced through his head yet one did not see to be to escape, closing his eyes firmly he waited for the cold steel of the handcuffs – which never came, instead he felt the warmth of soft lips pressing against his and wet tears dripping on his face.

"JOKER!" sobbed the blunette countess hysterically into his chest.

"MICHIE?!" the stunned ring leader was instantly hit with a mixture of confusing emotions that wrestled internally against each other. First relief for it was no law enforcement, no nosy second-stringer or anybody who could betray or dupe them, next joy to see his beautiful fiancee who prenscene alone was like a calming drug, relaxing all his nerves and tension until his brain started to think – she was still a suspect as to who took the letter informing Joker of Ciel's abduction, had she found it and that's ehy she cam back so soon? Why was she back so soon when she had told him a couple of days? And most importanly; why was she crying as if it was the end of the world. Did she know Scotland Yard was after us, and crying that she will be a widow before they even get the chance to marry?

"Oh Joker it's terrible..." she burst into tears again, Joker lifted her into his arms and brought her into the warmth of the tent to where the rest of the first-stringers sat on tenter-hooks, panic appeared in every single one of their pale faces when they saw the sight of Joker re-emerging carrying the sobbing Michelle in his arms placing her carefully down onto the nearest makeshift seat,

"Michie, me baby, whatever is wrong me darlin'? I thought 'ee was gonna be gone a good few days afore returnin'. Where's thy case?" her sudden reappearance and in such a pitiful state.

"I...," she sniffed, blowing on the hanky Doll kindly passed to her, "I, had to call the police and ... what they said..."

"Police?" questioned Joker, rubbing his forehead, quickly trying to find the best way to interrogate her without causing suspicion or any futher upset to Michelle and to try his best to squash the fear that he could tell where swimming in his brothers and sisters eyes right now, "Baby, why did thee ring the police?"

"It's all my fault ..."she sniffed, rocking to and fro, trembling frantically, " if only I had of been honest. Only if I had of told you sooner then this tragedy would not of occured... It's my fault! All mine!"

"Michie!" Joker took her firmly, but lovingly, by the arms and looked straight into her eyes, "I will forgive thee for whatever it may be, but thee has to confess to me now. Why did thee ring the police?"

"Because... because ... upon returning home I discovered ..." her eyes filled with tears again and her voice broke, causing Joker to gently urge her on more. She's found discovered we're the ones behind the abduction. She's discovered we're to kidnap her brother next! The combined thoughts of all tthe circus members spoke so loud in unison it was if they was screaming but of course all bit their tongues, exchanging shifty lances with each other and wringing their hands in anticipation..

"What did thee discover me darlin'?"

"I found... her room empty. She was gone!"

She? None of them had expected to hear that. Does this mean this had nothing to do with Ciel? Are we in the clear?

"She? Who is thee on about me Michie? Who was gone?"

"I called Scotland Yard to find her after a long search of the mansion and the grounds revealed she wasn't there," Michelle continued oblivious to Joker's question, "I... I waited ... I got the call ... I hoped and wished so hard it was to inform me they had found her safe and well but it was much much worse."

"Dids the police find her... ummm passed away..." he asked .

"No. Not her but the officers they sent to find her ..." she took a gulp, trying to steady her nerves before explining more.

"Peter, pass me Brandy," asked Joker, pointing to the botlle he himself had been drinking from a few minuted earlier. Taking the half-full bottle and glass tumbler, her worried lover passed them to her yet she just grabbed the bottle and took a good few swigs before she felt able to relay the disturbing details.

"Once the whole estate had been scoured with no sign, it was deduced she must of gone further and the nearest place would be the town. We have been there many times in the past so she knows it's very close to home, so Scotland Yard sent a dozen officers to search the streets this evenings and ... they did not find her but instead they discovered a pure bloodbath! Every officer had been killed brutally Joker! Many had their corpses embedded with several daggers, two was decapitated! One look appeared as if a wild animal had mauled him! A wild animal roaming the streets and she could be there! What if the beast attacks her? What if one of those monsters who'd so violently murderered those officers have her? I bet it those bastards behind all those mysterious kidnappings. I'll never forgive myself for leaving her."

The rest of the troupe's nerves was finally settled. Those police tonight was not there because they was on their trail, Scotland Yard was still clueless about Ciel and them being the masterminds behind the many child abductions up and down the country. The officers just happened to be coiencidentally as they was called to search for a missing person. Joker however was still worried for his fiancee was worried therefore her problem was his problem.

"Baby Michie, who is this 'she' thee keeps refering to?"

Instead of answering, Michelle took another moutful of Brandy before reaching inside her thick pink travelling coat and pulled out the orange, diamond heart necklace which Joker had brought her, from underneath the collar.

"I had it transformed to a locket ..." with that Michelle unhinged the diamond, splitting it neatly in two to reveal a photograph. Joker leaned forward, grasping the heart locket it the palm of his bony prosthetic hand to have a good examination. His blood froze when he saw the angelic face smile up at him, A very familiar angelic smiling face. Those big round eyes, those two long brunette braids, rhe same blue silky dress, and those two plump cheeks he had kissed twice earlier.

"W-who is s-she?" he stuttered in barely a whisper, dropping the locket back to rest on her chest as if it had suddenly became red hot.

"Her name is Lily. Two months after you left me to start up this circus I... I learnt I was pregnant," Michelle took his hand to say the next line, "She's your daughter Joker."