Chapter Ten

"Don't worry, he's out cold for now," Will said, but Grell said nothing; he just walked out into the living room where he sat back down, staring at the floor. Spears closed his broken window that seemed just another thing that needed to be done. He took Knox and set him on the floor, wondering if anyone put him up to this or if he acted on his own.

Knox just didn't understand the structure of the society quite yet. After only a few months of being off of supervision, he really wasn't handling the pressure too well. William thought that was the driving motivation. Knox probably believed he deserved better than what his position currently entailed, however Spears placed him where he was for a reason, and that reason was William knew Knox couldn't handle anything higher.

After all, parties don't necessarily improve Grim Reaper skills at all, except perhaps socialization. The bottom line was though, Knox didn't handle pressure well, and overtime was pressure. Performing and perhaps feeling he had to outperform was probably even more pressure, more than he could take for much longer. Usually, the mentioning of Grell's job was enough to get him to say something about higher positions being easier. Sutcliff even kept an eye on Ronald occasionally before he was taken off his trainee position. Maybe Grell fired him up too much? Nah, Knox didn't usually hold a grudge, he just rushed through things.

"He took his time with this," Will said. "Much more time than he has probably on anything else. Still, he rushed, and he was too hasty. You can be grateful for that."

Grell remained silent, still staring into nothing.

"Now that he knows he cannot beat me, I doubt this will happen again," William said as there was a knock on the door to reveal Undertaker, stating that the carriage awaited them outside. Spears took Knox and gave him to Undertaker to shove into the coffin Will has asked him to bring. It was to make sure Ronald stayed in place on the ride over.

Kneeling to Grell, Spears lifted his chin up.

"Come Grell," he said, getting the reaper to stand on his own two feet and shuffle to the carriage. Spears suspected Sutcliff was merely in shock, thus explaining his lack of speech this evening.

"My my, you're going to have quite the story on your hands, aren't you Mr. Spears?" Undertaker said with a smile and a short giggle as he mounted the driver's seat. "Hold on now." He snapped the reins, and they were in motion.

It was an open carriage, more like a wagon he supposed. William watched as they passed through the streets of London, feeling like an average street rat hitching a quick ride. But, as he looked over at Grell, he was reminded that this was so much more. The red reaper remained as far away from the coffin as he physically could, hugging his knees and leaning against them, staring to the side at the roads as they passed by.

Blood was smeared all over Sutcliff's attire, not that the red jacket seemed affected all that much. The stitching job Will had done seemed to be holding well, but every once and while, Grell would bring his head up to feel the new stitchings and give off a quiet sigh. Being unable to lean on his left side and with the roads being uneven as they usually were, Spears couldn't help but think of the new pain. He hadn't been harmed at all, not even a single scratch, yet there sat Grell, who had been less than a meter from him, now in dire need of new attire and a proper cleansing of the new wounds he'd been issued.

Spears had gotten dressed without his tie, leaving his collar untucked and his black jacket sleeves rolled up, but he took both these items off, feeling the bitter cold of the night's gale force. Placing them upon the coffin, Spears positioned himself close to Grell on the other side of the wagon. Sutcliff glanced for a second.

"Oh Sutcliff, you've been trying to catch me shirtless for years and this is your reaction?" Spears asked. The situation was true enough, Grell had been on a personal mission for a while to catch Will without all of his fancy clothes, but as expected, Will won that match. A few tears swelled up and let loose onto Grell's face. He shut them again and put his head down.

Will wrapped him around by the waist, forcing him out of that position and into his bare chest, but Grell pushed back, turning away.

"Sutcliff?" Will asked. More tears fell.

"For the first time, I don't feel safe. I'm not even..." Grell could barely speak.

Will gave him a few moments to collect himself, trying again to reach for him, but again, Grell tried to resist him. Now this was most unusual. The red reaper swallowed hard.

"No! How could you possible want this?" Grell exclaimed, pausing to take breaths that were labored and shaken. "It's...hideous."

Will knew he was referring to the stitchings. Again, he grabbed Grell and pulled him in and this time, he didn't resist.

"It's not hideous," Will corrected, adjusting his glasses. "You look fine."

A beat was skipped in Grell's chest at the sound of Will's voice uttering that last remark. Spears had thrown Grell onto his bare flesh, which was slightly cool to the touch, but Grell felt overheated, so that was all right with him. Sutcliff looked at the situation, knowing that Will was allowing him to bleed onto him, literally.

Not able to hold it back any longer, Grell grasped Will tightly around his torso. He thought it would have been better to think alone, but it was being alone that was starting to haunt him even more. Had he been alone with Knox came along, seeking part two of his vengeance, and he suspected he'd have never made it out alive without Will.

Usually, Grell had gotten himself into those kinds of situations. He usually was the one to initiate and go looking for trouble that usually put a mark on his life. Not this time, no. This time, someone had come after him, blindsided him to do so, and then came back looking for more. The worst part, it wasn't even a friendly quarrel. It was a strict mission to try and kill him. To kill a reaper, even knowing the consequences of such an action. Obviously, Knox rationalized with himself that the consequence would be worth the achievement. That is what shocked him the most about this situation.

The feeling of Grell's spicy tears hitting his chest was a new feeling, but Will couldn't help but feel obligated to stay with him. Trauma didn't last very long, but it did exist for a Grim Reaper. To be unable to remember one night and then have another attempt on life within less than a week, that would be enough for an unsuspecting victim to freak out even a little. For Grell, this was a new experience. This sort of thing never happened in the society, and William had done such a fine job to ensure that it wouldn't.

However, he'd obviously slipped through somewhere, and here was Grell, his oldest partner, as the target. Someone he should have known in the first place and most importantly, he'd become so comfortable getting Grell out of these situations, Will never thought he would ever fail at it, even once. Perhaps he was becoming too comfortable with his preconceived skill level.

"I failed," Will said. Grell was looking up at him as he thought about Knox's rash actions. He looked back to meet the gaze of the reaper. "I failed to protect you."

Grell said nothing for a few moments, retreating back to leaning against him, coming closer until he was practically on Spears' lap.

"I already owe you my life for what, the hundredth time now?" Grell said, angry with himself.

"This time was different. You got yourself into those messes, I just got you out," Spears said. "This time, trouble came for you, and as your manager, I'm supposed to keep a watchful eye on everyone in my division. Knox slipped right through me, and as a result, you were placed into a situation you should have never been in the first place. I should have watched Knox, everyone, closer. Those testing dates cause the most uproar, but I lacked in that area this time. And you..."

He stopped, realizing his own eyes were feeling more hydrated than usual. He grasped Grell closer to him, only satisfied when the red reaper laid his head on Will's shoulder.

"You're suffering. The reaper I've known the longest of everyone, and you had to suffer on account of my carelessness. That is something I feel is inexcusable for someone of my stature. So for this, I apologize, Grell. I should've been there."

Grell stayed close, hearing him out was the best he could do.

"It wasn't your fault," Grell said finally. "I'm the one who breaks the system every year. I ask far too ahead."

"Ah, and I let you break the system, every year," Will said. Grell looked up at him again. "Honestly when we're in that arena, it's like we're performing that final exam all over again."

"And why would you want to remember that?" Grell asked. "You hate admitting that I saved you."

"It's a consistency I'd rather prefer to keep around. You hate the job sometimes, but do a round with me and you find yourself performing much better than your usual best nights of reaping." Will looked down at Grell, knowing his point had gotten across.

"Y-you mean, you're saying that...you're saying that I push you?" Grell asked. Spears nodded.

"You push against the system all the time, but at the same time, you know the limits. You push me over the edge, to a point where I know I must perform my utmost. But, I know if I ever called on you, you wouldn't be ashamed or boast of saving me to everyone the next day, nor I to you. This time, though, I let my spectacles fall and the reaper who put them back on the first time was being chained by the record."

Grell gasped, understanding the analogy all too well. Will felt that since Grell knew how to push him, after taking the time to know him after so long, that he should have known the same of Grell. Because he felt he failed at seeing to his reapers and Knox's sudden rationality alteration, William felt he personally failed Grell, in the way in which Grell had first saved him.

"Testing dates remind me that you are still an excellent reaper," Will continued. "And your reports aren't half bad compared to Allan and Eric's."

That made Grell smirk as he came as close to Will as he could. He noticed Will's glasses dropping a little, but just as the black reaper came up to retrieve them, Grell pushed them up for him.

"They're still there," Grell said. "Trust me, I would know." He resumed his position against Spears, arms wrapped around his neck now and leaning against his shoulder like a sleepy child. Will smirked too, wrapping Grell at the waist again, never thinking he'd ever find Grell's presence against him to be the relief it had so intensely become.