Chapter 10

This chapter has been kid tested, mother approved.

(my bet okayed it :D)

(a little more crack for you guys, sorry, night shift is making my brain wiggy. Dialogue taken from and inspired by the anime. warnings: violence)

Note:guuuuu = japanese sound effect for stomach growling

"Thank you for coming," Abberline said upon the arrival of Grell's friends plus William and offered them seats. Two files sat beside each other upon the table. Abberline opened the larger one and got started. "Using the information you gave me, I managed to find files on a Grell and a Jack Sutcliff, born to George and Anneliese Sutcliff. Mother died when they were five. Some sort of horrific accident. I couldn't find much information on it except that the younger twin, Grell was present when it happened."

"How awful," Alan said,

"The father was murdered in the home a few years later. The boys were there. The murderer was never apprehended. Afterwards, they were sent to live two Great-Aunts in London where they stayed until adulthood." Abberline opened the smaller file, "It's about this time that we lose track of Jack. He simply drops off the grid, disappears. All we know is the Aunts left him he house when they died. That's it, as far as he goes. As for Grell," he turned back to the larger file.

"I believe we know the rest," said Undertaker. A package of waffles sat on the table, which Ronald helped himself to without asking. "Sounds like our girl."

"Perhaps we can check out this house that the Aunts left Jack," suggested Alan, "If Grell is with her brother, maybe she is there."

"Here is the address." Abberline copied it onto a slip of paper and slid it across the table to be picked up by William. "You did not get this information from me, are we clear?" He looked at them pointedly.

"What information?" Undertaker grinned.

"Thank you for your help," said William.

"Yes, thank you," said Alan. Alan jogged Ronald's elbow.

"Mmmkyou," he said around a mouthful of waffle.

"We appreciate it," included Eric.

"Just don't go asking me for any favor like this. I could get in trouble," Abblerline said while closing the folders and stacking one on top of the other.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Eric eagerly. "Let's go get Red."

"We can all take my van," offered Undertaker and they all agreed, though William seemed hesitant. Going to his car, he retrieved the prototype set of pruning shears still in the trunk, for a precaution. He couldn't say why, but he felt rather attached to them.

Undertaker pulled his van, an old VW, and William opened the side door to climb in and stopped to gawk in his own way at the interior. Shag carpet furnished the inside from top to bottom. Pink shag carpet. "Get in, Willy," the mortician urged from the driver's seat. A ceramic jar resembling a cremation urn was handed to the passengers in the back. "Help yourself to some biscuits." Ronald looked in the jar to see biscuits resembling bones. Like the kind you find in the pet section of your local market.

"Eh, I'll pass."

"Ehehehehe~ Let's boogie." Undertaker mashed on the accelerator.

(x)

It was dark, and there was a musty smell. Grell felt weak and faint. When waking in the darkness she thought she had succeeded and was in whatever afterlife awaited her. Then she realized she was in the attic. Her wrists had been bandaged. Jack must have found her and stopped the bleeding before it was too late. Why he had put her in the attic, she had yet to find it.

She felt her way over to the trap door that led downstairs and to her dismay, found it locked. Having no strength to try and force it, she sat back down on the floorboards and waited. While waiting, she fell asleep. She was woken by her stomach growling. Her mouth was parched and dry. She felt less faint, but only slightly less. After another long period of waiting and stomach growls, Grell drifted off again. Grell only re-awakened when she felt someone stroking her hair.

"Such a naughty thing," Jack said quietly. "What did you go and do a thing like that for? Don't you love me anymore?" Grell didn't answer. Instead she thought of ways she should have done herself in. It would have been better if she had hung herself, or jumped out a high window. Though these would have been less graceful deaths in her eyes, at least she might have succeeded. Grell's stomach growled loudly. "My darling hasn't eaten in a while."

"I'm not your darling," Grell retorted.

Jack frowned in the dim light that came from the open trap door. "I was about to say that if you promised to be good, I would let you come down and eat. Why must you always be difficult?"

"For one, what we are doing is wrong. It's disgusting. You are my brother. In this I'm glad that I am physically male. If I were otherwise, I have no doubt you would make me bear your children. Second, you talk about protecting me yet you beat me. Force me to...to do such do such despicable things. You're worse than father ever was. You're crazy and I wish you had never been born!" Jack's petting stilled as she spoke. She could sense the fury radiating off of him, but she didn't care anymore. If he killed her, then so be it. It would end her miserable existence.

He rose abruptly, allowing her head to drop to the floor. It fell hard enough to daze her as he made his way to the ladder. "You've been putting on a little weight. I think it's time you went on a diet." She had just begun to make for the door when he shut her up in the dark once again.

(x)

"This is it right here."Alan, who was navigating pointed at a house sandwhiched in with all the other row houses. Undertaker found a parking spot and they all got out of the van. William was first to the door with shears in hand. He rapped sharply on the door and waited. The door opened slightly, concealing the person on the other side.

"What do you want?" a voice asked gruffly.

"I am here for Grell Sutcliff," William answered.

"Go away," demanded the voice and the door started to close but William stuck the shaft of his shears through the opening to stop it.

"I am not leaving until I at least speak with him."

"Who are you?"

"I am William T. Spears, supervisor of the Grimm Garden Tool and Bird Seed Association."

"So you're William," the voice said venomously.

"And you are Jack Sutcliff, I presume."

"Grell doesn't want to see you and I don't want you to see Grell, so leave."

William opened his mouth to answer only to be interrupted by a suave voice saying, "Excuse me." It was Sebastian, the Phantomhive butler with a mocking smile. "Would you mind moving aside, Suit? I have orders from my young Lord to dispose of 'Jack the Ripper', as he has become known to certain circles. Her majesty the Queen has asked us to stop this illegal organ harvester. We also have the added incentive of him being the murderer of my master's beloved aunt."

"Long time no see," Jack greeted. Sebastian kicked open the door, sending Jack sprawling back onto the staircase. He recovered quickly and retrieved a chainsaw from beside the staircase. From the doorway, William got a good look at Jack. Absolutely identical to Grell, pardoning the hair cut.

The motor roared to life and engine was revved a few times. A flash of silver shot out towards the red head. Jack easily deflected the table knife thrown by Sebastian. "Has Romeo come to save his Juliet?" Jack taunted. "A man as handsome as you, surely she had an eye for. Tall, dark, you know..." Jack rushed forward, swinging the chainsaw downward.

"Don't say such repulsive things," Sebastian shuddered, blocking the saw from hitting its mark with tableware between his fingers. Sparks flew. The battle led up the stairs, metal clanging on metal. William chased after to see what he could do.

Jack had pinned Sebastian to the wall. The blade cut into the wall. "Now, now, if you don't escape, you'll get cut," Jack said with a murderous grin. The blade tore at the fabric of Sebastian clothing. "It's so much more stimulating when it hurts a little, isn't it?" William struck out with his shears. It was dodged by both. Sebastian managing to duck out of the way from the revolving blade of the chainsaw as the shears struck the wall instead of either of the fighters.

Sebastian delivered a swift kick to William. "Stay out of my way, if you please."

"I've had enough of you. I'll send you both to heaven!" Jack growled with a feral look.

"Heaven?" mocked Sebastian, coming up behind Jack and surprising him. "Heaven and I are strangers." And he kicked towards Jack's head, Jack narrowly avoiding it. Jack came at him. Sebastian dodged and pinned the chainsaw to the floor by pushing his foot down upon the motor carriage.

"Our adventure ends now," said Jack. The chainsaw was eating into the floor, as Jack fought to free it from under Sebastian's foot. "Allow me to give you a parting kiss on behalf of Grell!" Jack shouted, delivering a headbutt to Sebastian's forehead.

The two parted and Sebastian took the time to examine his clothing which was full of cuts and tears from the battle. "Oh, no, my clothes are ruined again," he said ruefully. "This is past mending." He began to unbutton his topcoat.

"You're pretty confident, worrying about your clothes at a time like this."

With a flourish, Sebastian removed the swallowtail coat he wore. "This is one technique I didn't want to use, but there's no help for it."

"So you're finally going to get serious with me?" Jack asked, readying his blade. "Shall we close the curtain with the next blow? Say, 'goodbye' to this world."

They came at each other. Sebastian dodge the revolving blade and jammed his coat in between it and the motor. The motor came to a halt, unable to rotate with the coat stuck in it. Jack tried to tug it free but could not. "That tailcoat is made of high-quality Yorkshire wool. Wool has one of the highest frictions of all clothes. Oce it gets enmeshed in something, it is very difficult to remove. The coat was supplied to me by the estate, and I didn't want to use it, but you had ruined it already, after all. Now," said Sebastian, cracking his knuckles and smiling as he loomed over Jack, "in a normal fist fight I feel a certain amount of confidence." Blow after blow Sebastian rained down upon his opponent. Both kicks and punches. While an impressive fighter with a weapon in hand, Jack was defenseless when it came to fists.

One last punch from Sebastian sent Jack over the railing to the first floor. Sebastian went down the stairs carrying the chainsaw. "I'll get you from this," Jack garbled on the verge of consciousness."

One tug and Sebastian pulled the coat free from the saw. He kicked Jack again, leaving his foot pressing onto Jack to hold him. "I don't enjoy being kicked, but doing the kicking feels rather nice." He turned the chainsaw back on and Jack screamed defensively, for once afraid for his life. "You scream nicely. As a reward I'll kill you with your favorite toy." Sebastian raised the blade overhead.

"Please, stop!" Jack begged.

"No," answered Sebastian with a smile and brought the blade down. William's shears shot out and stopped the rotating blade from making contact with the redhead. Sebastian back off a little as William jumped over the banister and 'accidentally' landing on Jack.

"I apologize for interrupting," he said, "I shall be taking charge from here. I am sorry for all the trouble this wretch has caused. I ask that you leave him to my friends and I. Whatever this thing may have done, if you go much further you shall kill him. There are better ways of handling these things besides murder."

"I have orders. I must obey."

"My companions and I will deal with him. Be off. You needn't worry about your master's orders. We shall see that the proper authorities deal with him."

Sebastian chuckled. "Forgive me, but I find this amusing. What would the police do? Where is your evidence? My master ordered him dead. Does he look dead to you?" William thought for an answer to satisfy the butler. Sebastian looked at him thoughtfully and said, "I wonder where Grell Sutcliff is."

William's eyes widened and he hurried up the stairs. He glanced wildly about the hall, trying to figure out where best to start when he heard a soft pounding from above. Looking up, he saw a trap door in the ceiling. "Jack, you bastard. What's going on? Let me out!" William reached up with his shears to undo the lock. The door fell open and Grell toppled out with a look of surprise at the sudden fall. William caught her, but the abrupt weight caused them both to fall to the floor.

Grell blinked at the sight of William, sitting in his lap, half certain her eyes were playing tricks on her. "William?!" She gasped. "Where's Jack?" William could only stare, his face turning a bright red. They had been intimate, yes, but he hadn't expected her to topple out of there stark naked. "What are you doing here? You need to leave. Jack could come back at any minute," she said rapidly.

"Jack has been taken care of," William answered, taking off his suit and wrapping it around Grell's shoulders. "Sebastian Michaelis has dealt with him. In fact, we should be getting back down there. He said he was going to kill him."

"Good riddance!" Grell said with contempt.

William was taken aback by her venom. She wanted her brother dead. "I understand he may not be the most respectable person. However-"

"You understand nothing!" She spat and got up and marched to the bedroom. She rifled through her dresser looking for something to wear, however, she was not concentrating, distracted by the million thoughts in her head. Frustrated and at a loss on how to react. Why was he here? He wasn't supposed to be here.. Her fantasies weren't supposed to come true.

William had followed her into the room. "Perhaps this is because you will not let me understand." He spoke calmly, keeping his emotions in check. "You don't look so good. Did Jack do that to you?" He asked, noticing her wrists and scattered bruises on her body.

"I thought you never wanted to see me again," she said bitingly. "Why are you here?"

"I never said that, but I did say a lot of things I would like to atone for, if you would permit me. I am here because your friends became concerned when broke all contact and disappeared."

"My friends...why are you here? That was the question." Finally making a selection, she laid the clothing out on the bed. The suit jacket was removed and the other clothing put on. Just as William was going to answer, the sound of several pairs of feet came up the stairs along with inquiries to Grell and William's locations. They all crowded into the room just as Grell finished dressing. Alan rushed over to her to hug her and inspect her wounds. Ronald and Eric took positions nearby while Undertaker lingered in the doorway.

"Michaelis has gone off, taking Jack with him. Would have stopped him, but I can't afford to have the Earl poking his nose into my business," he informed William quietly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Grell repeatedly assured her friends over their questions and fawning.

William stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Grell, could we speak alone for a moment or two?"

Grell gave it a moment of thought before tossing her hands in the air. "Oh, very well. Let's let him say what he wants to say."

"We'll be right outside if you need us, Red," Eric told her as they filed out the room.

William closed the door then turned to face her. Her arms were crossed. "You asked me why I am here. I am here to ask see if you still hold to what you told me." He stepped closer. "Your friends are insistent that it was all an act on your part. I want very much to believe them, but I will not until I hear it from your own lips."

"If you are so set against the idea, why bother at all then?" she asked, taking a seat on the bed and drawing up her legs.

"Damn it, Grell Sutcliff, why must you be so difficult?" he burst. He took a breath and calmed himself before continuing, "I have never cared for a person before you. Not in this way. You fill my every being. I don't understand, you are right. I do not understand you or many of the things you say or do. I want to understand, but you will not let me. Why? Will you at least tell me tat much?" Grell didn't answer, but rather turned her eyes to look elsewhere in the room. "I am not concerned about your past, only your future, which I would like to be a part of."

"You are willing to be seen with a whore?" she spat.

William regarded her for a moment. "No, I am not. If that is what you no longer are. I cannot love you for being something you are not. I can only love for what you are. Even if you were still one, I do not think I could help but want to be near you, as much as sharing you with others may displease me. I am selfish when it comes to my lovers. If this were to be the case, do not expect me to be engaged with sexual or relations with you. I will still be...friendly...towards you." William watched as Grell's lower lip disappeared under her teeth as she bit it. Her face was strained as she fought to keep from displaying emotion. "If you tell me you feel nothing at all for me, then that will be the end of it. You will not have to see me again."

Grell could no longer resist. She put her face in her hands and started crying. "I don't deserve you!" she sobbed. "How can you love a creature like me?" William joined her on the bed, the worn out springs creaking under his weight. He slowly circled his arms around her in a comforting manner. She leaned into his embrace.

"Because I chose to," William answered. "Are you afraid?" he asked. "To let me get close to you?"

"That's part of it. Everyone who gets close to me ends up hurt. There have only been a few that haven't, but they weren't romantically involved with me. That short fling with Eric doesn't count."

"You and Eric?" William questioned aloud. Eric had never mentioned it. This information surprised him.

"It meant nothing. It was just sex. It didn't last long and it was a long time ago."

"Oh."

"Everyone ends up hurt, or worse," she sniffed. William reached into his breast pocket and took out a pocket handkerchief. With it, he dabbed at her eyes before handing it to her. "No," she went on, pausing to blow her nose, "I'm no good for you. I am a whore. I've slept with so many I've lost count. All for money. I'm lucky I don't have any diseases. I- I-" She cried some more into the handkerchief. "When you started to ask me out, my life was going through a change. I was upset when you suddenly changed your mind. I thought all sorts of horrid things about you and decided I would hurt you emotionally for toying with me. Make you fall in love with me and then break your heart. Then you showed up at the hospital, I lost heart in it. You so gallantly offered your home to me when I had nasty, mean intentions just moments before. We made love and I just couldn't do it anymore. I felt so guilty and ashamed of what I had been planning, I had to leave. It wasn't right. I wouldn't have you saying you loved me under false pretenses. So you see, you don't want me. I've done terrible, terrible things. Unspeakable things..." She wrung the handkerchief in her between her hands.

"Must you be so dramatic?" William snapped. Her eyes snapped up to meet him, wide at his sudden abrasiveness. Red and puffy from weeping. William took a calming breath, determined to see this through, even if this new information was a little unsettling. "I am not concerned with your past. I am willing to put everything in the past and leave it there that we may start over. No matter how many you have been with, I wish to be your last from now until the end, if you will let me."

"Oh- oh, darling, that sounds so romantic, but if you only knew-" She looked down at the handkerchief she had been toying with.

"Then do not tell me. I do not wish to know. Do you want me? Be honest." He turned her head to look at him directly in the eyes.

She took a deep breath that hitched as she summoned the nerve to answer truthfully, "Y-yes."

"Do you love me?"

"More and more every day."

"Then..." he tilted her chin and moved in to kiss her. Her eyes fluttered close as his lips drew near.

Guuuuuuu!

She drew back and her face flushed. How unromantic! Her empty stomach growling loudly and interrupting their moment. In all the excitement and emotion, she had quite forgotten her hunger. "Will, do you mind if we go get something to eat first?"

(x)

"How do I look?" Grell asked, turning slightly in her red gown. "Doesn't this waistline flatter my figure?"

"You look great. Only...aren't wedding gowns supposed to be white?" asked Ronald.

"That girlish, infantile white color? So virginal. Nhin~," she blew a kiss at her reflection in the mirror, "and I'm not exactly a virgin am I? No, no, passionate red, sexy and decadent is for me!"

Alan approached and handed Grell her bouquet. "But do we really have to wear these?" asked Ronald, tugging disparagingly on the fabric.

"Well, it's too late to change now. Besides, who else would be my bridesmaids? And bridesmaids wear dresses." Grell answered.

"It's won't be for very long," Alan whispered in Ronald's ear while Grell primped some more. "Just bear with it."

It was time and the three joined the small wedding party in the hall of the little white chapel. Alan took Eric's arm while Grell took Pops'. The music started and the doors opened. Ronald started down first, doubling as a 'flower girl', much to his chagrin with plans to hide rice everywhere he could think of in the bride's belongings during the reception as payback for this humiliation and ruin of his image. Behind him came Alan and Eric who carried the rings. "You look good in a dress," Eric whispered to Alan.

"Don't you be getting any funny ideas," Alan whispered back. "I'm only doing this for Grell and for this day only."

Finally, came the bride. All stood as she marched slowly in time with the music and ignored the unpleasant looks she was getting from the groom's side of the family, those that had showed up. She held her head high in defiance to them and smiled. She was pleased to see that Andrei had accepted her invitation and had managed to contact Sascha and Rudgar, her friends from Germany so they could be there as well. Undertaker had insisted on being invited and after the way he assisted in her 'rescue' she could not say 'no'. Some of her former coworkers from the nightclub were also in attendance.

After these brief glances to her friends, she turned her gaze on her husband to be. She couldn't help but adore the way he looked all nervous and jittery as he awaited to take her hand, constantly adjusting his glasses, but his eyes shown with love and the nerves melted away as her hand was placed in his. He firmly gripped her hand.

"Dearly beloved," the priest started after the congregation had been seated, "We are gathered today to unite this man and this...woman?...in holy matrimony..."

The End

I didn't originally plan to have a wedding scene, but when trying to figure out how to end this, it just sort of seemed the right ending. Hope you enjoyed.