The cinematic record spilled out into the air wildly, the flickering images of dying man on the floor highlighting the two reapers as they darted around the alley in a staggered fashion in the strobe effect, it didn't take long before the both ended the struggle and stood silently looking down at the man in his last final moments, then all was quiet and the man exhaled his final breath.
"Is it always like this?" Alex asked kneeling next to the man and closing his eyes gently.
"Not always." Grell said watching Alex with a confused expression, he'd never felt much compassion for the human race, they were merely customers but Alex made him wonder if there was more to them than he gave them credit for. "Your first reap." Grell said watching Alex rise but still looking down at the man with a solemn expression deep in thought.
"My first..." Alex trailed off closing their eyes and sighing deeply.
"What's wrong? You did well." Grell said leaning against the wall and pulling out a log book and pen and then quickly drawing a line through the man's name. Grell looked up to Alex, there was something definitely wrong, Alex was doing their best to hide a pained expression as they turned their head away. "You did," Grell said putting the book away as he walked over and threw an arm around Alex's shoulders, "In face you're a little too good, I'm getting jealous."
Alex pulled out of Grell's arm and walked across the alley and turned around, "Why does life have to end? That man had a family and so much to live for, so many years left. So much they could still yet accomplish if given the chance."
Grell blinked, he couldn't understand why Alex was acting like this, it was very unusual, "It's our job, we can't interfere in the grand scheme of things."
"Why not? Haven't we interfered already?" Alex said giving Grell a hard look.
"You need to be careful what you say." Grell said in a concerned way, "You're starting to sound like your father now and deserters aren't the most liked types in dispatch, you know what happens to deserters if they're caught or found out."
Alex was starting to worry Grell, he knew that her past and involvement with a renowned deserter like the Undertaker would have certainly affected how she thought about things but he didn't want her to get out of control with the Death Bookmark, a time would come when she would rewrite history so much that the natural balance would be thrown into Chaos. Of course Grell wasn't one to follow the rules either but more than anything he cared about her now, they had a future and he wanted it to continue without any more changes to their lives.
"You still want my soul." Alex said suddenly taking off their glasses. "You still want to kill me."
Grell stared at Alex, no, Rose; despite her appearance he couldn't see her as anything but Rose now, the woman he impossibly loved. Grell knew what was bothering her now, he could see it written all over her face, she thought his feelings towards her were exactly the same as when they had met, that he was bent on killing her but first he wanted to put her through an endurance of pain and punishment for what she'd done in the past, but she was wrong.
It was time, time to tell her the truth, but not here in the wake of death.
Grell walked over to Alex quickly and hooked his arm around their waist pulling them in close to his body and peering down at them over his glasses with a wide grin, he leaned in close to Alex's ear and whispered, "Come on darling, we're done for the night, let's go home, the paperwork can wait until tomorrow."
Rose couldn't tare her eyes away from her red reaper; her mind had been heavy with thoughts of her lover's true intentions towards her but now looking into those eyes she lost herself again. Rose wanted him to love her more than anything now that she knew she was in love with him but she felt as if she were setting herself up for despair. If she told him her feelings and he did not return them and that she were only his plaything for however long he was interested then it would destroy her.
"Won't Will be angry?" Rose asked, another thing that played on her mind a lot of the time, his general interest for the males that surrounded him.
"Will's always angry, you should know that by now." Grell grinned pressing his forehead against hers and nudging his nose against hers playfully, "Since when did you care about that?"
Rose smiled despite herself, it was time to give up on living in ifs, but and maybes, Rose didn't have anything to lose, if he did feel how she feared then her broken heart would never have a chance to mend, his intentions would see to that. Rose's cheeks burned at the intensity of his stare and her body flooded with a warmth from the danger that surrounded Grell, she loved him more than anything because he held her whole life in his murderous hands and it thrilled her. Grell made her feel alive more than anything.
"Besides, you still need that punishment for ruining Sebas-chan's suit." Grell whispered running his rose along her jaw line and then kissing her gently on the neck and nipping it slightly with his sharp teeth; Rose gasped in a way he always loved to hear, a way that turned him on more than anything, he wanted them both at home and he wanted it now.
"Home then." Rose said as he grip loosened on the scythe and she let it slide slowly through her hand so that the blade hit the floor; she curled the fingers of her free hand around the edge of his waistcoat below his bow for support as she began to fell weak under the power he had over her. Before Rose had chance to realise what was going on he had pulled her off into the night back to their town house leaving the man's body alone to be found by whoever poor soul stumbled across him next.
Grell and Rose dropped into the garden at the back of the town house without a sound, they walked very slowly together, Grell with his arm around her shoulders on the right and Rose with her arm around his waist on the left, both of them carrying their scythe's over their shoulders and neither of them saying anything, in the next few moments they would both have to admit something to each other and both of them were nervous about the outcome.
Grell led the way over to a part of the garden they both remembered very well, it had been the spot where they had both realised their attraction to each other whilst under disguises, Rose hiding her true self under the pretence of a lady and Grell hiding his true Shinigami nature under the pretence of her butler. They both remembered how they had grown attached to each other, spending warm afternoons in the rose garden, conversing as he brushed her long hair and she spoke openly for the first time in her life.
As they sat down on the wall both of them let their scythe's drop onto the floor without a care, the silence between them had lasted too long and it had seemed like an eternity since they had last been alone and free to act as they truly felt, neither afraid to show their true self to each other. Grell reached around the back of Rose's head and pulled at the loop of the ribbon sharply, it came away in his hand and her long hair fell down her back free, then he took off her glasses and threw them onto the grass with slight impatience.
Rose didn't stop Grell at first as he proceeded to try and free her from her Shinigami uniform but then did, Rose took hold of his wrists but he shook them away and pushed the jacket off her shoulders unbuttoning the waistcoat and a rising look of hurt appearing on his face, there was something wrong with him this time. Rose pulled away from him grabbing at her shirt and pulling it closed across her body, she was used to him being rough with her and she liked it but things were different, he had a strange expression.
"Come here, take off that damned outfit." Grell said leaning forwards and pulling her back to him, "I don't want you wearing it here..." Grell said nearly ripping the shirt off her, "I don't want you wearing it at all!"
"Grell stop it!" Rose said pulling backwards trying to free herself from him in his maddened state but instead he fell forwards on top of her.
As Rose lay there with him leaning his head on her bare stomach she thought he might sit up any moment and continue but he didn't, instead he placed his hands on either side of her bare body above her hips gripping her hard but not hurting her, she could feel him trembling slightly and then she felt something on her skin, something wet. Rose looked down and saw Grell's face contorted in anguish with one of his beautiful eyes blurred by tears and her heart leapt into her throat.
"I want you to be you, I don't want you pretending to be something else anymore, I'm sick of living pretending to be something else, I don't want it!" Grell sobbed angrily, "I've been lying to you, fighting the truth because I couldn't accept it. I don't want to anymore!" Grell jerked up off her and pulled her up forcefully by her shoulders to him so that they were inches apart and she could only stare shocked into his streaming eyes. "I need to tell you something, something I've wanted to tell you for so long that it seems like forever." Grell let his grip loosen on her shoulders and Rose's face eased slightly, her heart was pounding against her chest and she could barely breathe.
"Sorry to ruin the moment." Said a voice so close to Grell and Rose that it made them jump at the sudden sound of it. Both of their heads shot round to the side and their eyes locked on to Sebastian who was about two feet from them and smiling evilly, "But I'm afraid I must intercede."
Grell put his arm in front of Rose and leaned in between her and Sebastian protectively, the game was up now, there was nothing he could say or do to cover up their tracks this time, all he could do was protect her the best way he could and try and get them away from here before Sebastian had a chance to act.
"I knew there was something odd going on all along." Sebastian said eyeing Rose cruelly with his crimson eyes, "But what I want to know is what you've made myself and the master forget and..." he paused and his eyes flashed brightly with his demon power surging through, "Who exactly you are after all...Shinigami."
Rose's eyes narrowed, she hated Sebastian and she could finally end this awful contract with Ciel tonight, "I am Lady Alexandra Rose Burnett and you will not talk to me like that! This ends tonight demon." Rose said trying to move Grell out of the way so that she could pick up her scythe but he pushed her back.
Sebastian chuckled, "Lady Burnett indeed. Isn't that also a pretence? Am I right in thinking that she has absolutely nothing to do with Madam Red?" Sebastian asked but he wasn't aiming the question at Grell or Rose instead he glances back over his shoulder drawing the two Shinigami's eyes to another figure who had been loitering just out of their sight until now.
The Undertaker.
"That's right, nothing at all." The Undertaker grinned over at them all.
Rose's eyes widened as she took in the image of her father, "What are you doing?" she asked confused, this wasn't making any sense, why was her father here with Sebastian.
"Little blossom, always so naive." The Undertaker said walking over and standing behind Sebastian still wearing a large grin on his face. Grell and Rose got to their feet still holding on to each other in their confusion at the situation arising around them.
"Why are you supporting these lies?" Rose said imploringly to her father, this was breaking her heart, "You're supposed to protect me!"
The Undertaker's smile faded, "I've been protecting you for so long and you still haven't learned a damn thing." He said quietly peering out at her through his silver hair with him luminous eyes, "After all these years, you still can't tare yourself away from him. I am going to have to try things over again?"
"What are you talking about father! I don't understand!" Rose said as her eyes started to well up. Grell was confused as well, he looked down at Rose's grief stricken face and something inside him snapped, even if the Undertaker was her father he was still going to hurt him for upsetting Rose like this, no one was allowed to make Rose cry, those tears were for him only.
"What the hell are you doing!" Grell shot forwards past Sebastian and grabbed onto the Undertaker's robes violently shaking him, "How can you talk to your daughter like this you creepy sick bastard!"
The Undertaker grinned and then moved ever so slightly and Grell found himself thrown several feet away into a wall with great force, he slid down onto the floor and tried to pull himself together in his agony, he had not been expecting that. Grell looked over and saw the Undertaker straightening his robes still with a wide smile across his face clearly pleased.
"Anyway," Sebastian said turning his attention back to Rose, "Would you like to tell me what's going on then? Or am I going to have to let the truth out itself on its own?" Sebastian watched as Rose spat on the floor at his feet and then leaned over for her death scythe, "Oh dear, such a shame." Sebastian sighed reaching into his jacket.
Grell had gotten to his feet and was clutching his side as he made his way over wiping the blood he'd coughed up from his mouth; Rose had taken hold of her scythe and was now standing back up trying to clear he mind as she planned her attacks, then both Grell and Rose caught a glimpse of something flash as Sebastian made a slight movement.
"I'm sorry, but I really should be getting back to the master." Sebastian said with an evil smile.
Grell looked over at Rose who had turned to look at him over Sebastian's shoulder, there was a strange expression on her face that he had seen so many times before but he couldn't place where then a cold trickle swept down his spine and his eyes widened, it couldn't be that look. Grell watched as Rose stumbled slightly and looked down at herself as Sebastian moved out of the way then his heart felt like it had been crushed, "NO!" Grell screeched taking in what had happened.
Embedded in Rose's chest, almost unnoticeable because of how deep it was, a silver knife was shining in the moonlight and a large red stain was spreading across the fabric of her white shirt.