Chapter 10: Danny POV

"Oh goodness, Vincent! Look at you, your pants are all dirty," the Lady said as the young Master knocked and the door opened. "Dear me, Sebastian - oh! Who is this?" she asked, looking me over. She took in my dress and her face softened. "A lovely dress, ma'am. Are you and Sebastian going for an evening stroll?"

"We had a rather long walk, my Lady," Sebastian said smoothly. "The Lady Hyde is here to see the Master. Could you keep her company while I fetch him?"

"Oh, of course! I... " she turned to me and looked at me. "Lady Hyde? Are you… do you - well surely not," she said, ending in a bit of a flustered remark and lead me into the small reception room. "Please, sit. We were about to have some supper, if you and Sebastian wish to join us. He rarely brings anyone around," she said, clucking as if she was his mother.

"Thank you Lady Phantomhive, but I think we may be taking up the Earl's time so he may not be able to join you in supper," I said.

Her face slackened and she searched my eyes as I spoke, and then took in my appearance once more. She frowned and took me in skeptically. I smiled softly; my voice was quite distinct as a mix of my American and British accent. She leaned back a bit.

"Mister… no…" she stuttered and stood up a bit, and then back into her chair. I reached a hand out and she looked at it as if it was a foreign object. I pulled back and she frowned. "But you are the Tutor."

"Yes, I was."

"A man!" she said in a rush. "A… a - a woman?"

I bowed my head and sighed. "I am a woman who has disguised herself for protection. I was…" I looked at her and bit my lip. As always, I chose my words carefully. "I was in danger if someone knew I was a woman when I came to England. I had to make my living, and I needed a way to live free from the bonds our sex places us in. I dressed as a man for… many years."

"And," she blinked taking in my delicate dress. "You are a woman here?"

"I have escaped my dangers I think quite completely here. Nothing of my former… ties remain. I could be free to be myself - both the woman and the man."

"What is going on!"

I looked up sharply as the door was banged closed and the Earl crossed the room in quick strides. His anger boiled as he roughly pulled the Lady up from her seat and stood before her. I rose, slowly, feeling as if I was a butterfly emerging from a slumber.

"Earl Phantomhive."

"Misses Hyde," he spat.

"You - you knew about the Tutor?!" the Lady said, wrenching her arm from his grip. "You knew! How long have you been hiding this?"

"For a while," he merely said, his bright blue eyes drilling into me. "Lizzie - take Rachel and Vincent and leave. Go to dinner. I will deal with this."

She shook her head, blonde curls bouncing. "You dismissed the Tutor because of this? Oh Ciel! How could you! You are so cruel!" She turned to me and I saw the same fire that had lit her eyes when we were sparring in the entry hall, our sabers clashing, her lunging and words just as deadly. Protecting her child. And now she looked at me and back at the Earl, and she moved past him, standing before him, that same look now turned on him.

"Lizzie," the Earl said. "Elizabeth! Leave us!"

If there had been a sharp object I wouldn't have been surprised if she would have branded it. "No, Ciel. I am not leaving. And the Tutor - Lady Hyde - is coming back with us."

"She said she refuses!" he spat at her. He looked at me and shook his head. "We can find another Tutor and bring Vincent home from school - but it will not be this one. It was clearly a mistake to send him to school again."

Lady Phantomhive moved quickly and the delicate hand that had held the young Mistress and caressed the young Master's cheek, now met her husband's firmly. The air zipped with the emotion of the act, with the meaning behind it. I stiffened and took a small step back, finding the stiff shoulder of Sebastian stopping me from backing away.

"You should be ashamed of yourself! You sent her away because Vincent was crying? Is that the excuse you will give? No, Ciel, don't even open your mouth to protest. You deserve all the things that have happened. I dare say even Vincent has learned a lesson in this. To send a wonderful man away because he was found out to be a she? Is that why Vincent called Mister Hyde a liar and threw a fit when I tried to reason with him about him being so adamant to go back to school? He was glad to have Mister Hyde gone, after being so happy. I never understood," she said, pausing. "I may sit nicely at the meeting dinners, dance all the dances with you, not want my children to suffer like you did - like I did when we were younger. But Ciel, how dare you cover this? How dare you give into the whims of a child? No matter that he is our child, he is still that - a child. He only knew he hurt. And you gave in."

She turned toward me, and took in a breath. She took in my long hair, my dress, and then turned back to the Earl after a moment. She stepped closer and softly said, "You are Earl Phantomhive because you fought. You fought to be alive, to be the man who could carry the title. You fought to let go of the past, and it's not very far, I know. But you fought. You didn't give in. Please, my love, stop trying to make the world perfect for our children, for us. The world is ugly and cruel." She glanced over back at me. "Makes us do things we could never imagine. If Vincent ran away to bring his Tutor back it was not because he accepted that Mister Hyde was a woman, it was the mature realization that it didn't matter." She brushed past him and picked up her light jacket and Sebastian helped her slip into it. She turned as she opened the door and looked at us once more. "Vincent is a fine example you may wish to emulate, Ciel Phantomhive."

The door closed and locked us into a dead silence, the only sound was breathing and heartbeats. A softer door closed and we were alone in the rooms. I shifted my gaze ever so slightly to the Earl and sat down. Sebastian moved to stand beside the Earl, his usual post, but he looked at me with pride. The Earl was truly being beaten at all sides.

"Well… Misses Hyde," the Earl said at last as he sank into the chair that was vacated by his wife. "I assume you are here to give me terms if you wish to come back."

"You assume I want to come back," I said. I turned my head and sighed. "Yes. Yes, I do wish to return as the young Master's Tutor. He has been suffering long enough." I glanced at Sebastian and smirked. "I think even your Butler has done a bit of his own torturing."

"Bloody apples," the Earl muttered as he sank into the chair more. I raised an eyebrow and looked at the Human. "What are your terms?"

"Vincent. I want his Soul."

The Earl started up and even Sebastian raised an eyebrow in how bold I was. I looked at them both and shook my head.

"I'm not going to ask for anything more plainly. I was honest each time I was asked if I truly am happy to be the young Master's Tutor - and it was yes. Yes I was - I could be - but he is also more than a simple student, just as I am more than a simple Tutor." I sat forward and the smell of the Earl's Soul danced on the air as I breathed deeply. "I am a Demon and I need to make a Contact. I have punished myself in ways you could not imagine as I have starved myself denying what I want more then just to be the adored Tutor. I want him. To protect him, to continue building him into a great man - to be ready to take the burden of the titles you will pass to him. In time, and with me by his side, as his Soul's keeper, he will be ready to be the Earl Phantomhive and the King's Watchdog. But I need his Soul to do so."

He blinked and looked up at Sebastian. "You trained her well."

Sebastian smiled and met my gaze. "Her heart is still intact, my Lord. There is nothing but truth in her statements." He sat beside me and gathered my hands in his. "Danny needs to make a Contract before damage is done to that heart of hers," he said, looking into my eyes. "It's true for the young Master. It beats to protect him."

The Earl looked away and snorted, shaking his head. "Two Demons, two generations of Phantomhives! And if I say you ask too much Misses Hyde?"

"I will destroy you," Sebastian growled, his eyes bright and threatening, turning to his Master. "I have built the world you live in and I can take it away. I have no obligation to keep your family safe."

"Sebastian," I said, laying a hand on his cheek and turning his face to look at me. His eyes slid back toward me and he softened slightly. "This is a blink to us. We have eternity."

"So why does it matter so?" the Earl said, getting up and standing before us. "If this is nothing but a passing moment, why not leave us? Consume another, make a Contract with another, and go on. Why my son?"

I looked at him and let Sebastian's hands go. I stood, my dress flowing over me. "Because it is your son I want. And your family - your lineage, heritage, the weight you have on your shoulders… is both heavy and needed in our ever changing world. Vincent must be ready to take on each aspect of being the Watchdog. Of being a Phantomhive. Your own father - grandfather… each have passed down the two titles, each passing down the weight of that secret."

He took a deep breath and sat back, turning from me. "If I agree," he paused and looked at me and Sebastian. "If I agree to hand over my son for a lifetime of servitude and pain, knowing the things I know, seeing - doing - the things I have to see and do, can I have him pure until I can be sure he is ready?"

Sebastian's hand once more slipped into mine and I turned to look down at him. He smiled and squeezed, my Mark on fire as he did so. I sat down beside him once more and took a breath. Could I hang on for more years? Could Sebastian's own love for me, his gentle training and leading me into the darkness of London so we could Feed, keep us both satisfied until I was granted the young Master's Soul?

"I can promise you this," I said finally, turning to level my gaze on the Earl. "I can try. I can try to be patient and keep him 'pure.' But, he will have to know. He will have to understand, what I am. Who I am. That I will protect, and serve him, and will be his Demon and all that it means."

The room seemed to swirl with the ticking of time. The Earl swallowed hard and met my gaze. "When he is ready. When it's his time to take over… I will hand him over."

"It may not be in your timing, my Lord," Sebastian said, pulling my glove off. He sighed and brushed over the Mark. The skin around it was raw and red, much like it had been when the Mark was being formed. "But I will keep Danny safe so that she can honor your request. In the meantime," he sighed and pulled my face towards his, and looked up at the Earl, "you have a family to enjoy."

He nodded and looked at me again. The Earl took his eyepatch off and I saw the Mark, the Contract, shining as he pushed his hair from his eyes. "Demon Daniella Hyde, I swear to you that when time comes, and my son is ready, or the time is ready and you must make your Contract, I will step aside and let you have him."

I brushed my bare hand over Sebastian's and closed my eyes for a moment, the Power flowing over me in the words the Earl spoke. Settling, taking my grounding once more from my Mate, our love, I stood once more and bowed, dropping to a knee and slowly looking up as his Contract blazed bright and true. "Thank you, my Lord."