A/N: Because I just couldn't leave you on that cliff hanger. In which Ronnie believed for a short while that he's dead. Well, you can't blame him. It's bound to be a little confusing for the poor little thing. He's so cute and hugable. Oh yeah, and we get more Eric. Yays. Ok, so thank you to all those who reviewed last chapter, especially those who were quick enough to get in a review between last chapter and this one (I know that was a quick update, two in one day) and please keep them coming.

"Ronald," Alan cried as Ronald tripped over himself, tumbling to the floor. "Be careful."

Alan knelt next to him and helped him up but Ronald backed away quickly, suddenly finding the desk against his back. He'd given up trying to hold back his tears. This was all just too insane. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't. He collapsed to the ground, trying to calm his breathing but failing completely.

"Oh, Ronald," Alan sighed, sitting with him and gently reaching around to his wrists. "Please, calm down, it's ok. I promise, it's ok. Just calm down and I can explain. Just take a few deep breaths and then I can undo your wrists and we talk."

"I-I thought- but-"

"Breathe, Ronald," Mark said gently. "You'll hurt yourself."

"Shh, it's ok," Alan murmured brushing his tears away. "Come on, deep breaths. I can explain."

"Leave it, sweetheart." He was pulled up and pushed into the bedroom, the door being kicked shut behind them, even as Alan called after them. Ronald was tossed back onto the bed and he struggled to sit up. "Stop struggling, Puppy, you'll rub your wrists raw."

He whimpered and twisted away but was caught by his chin and held still as his glasses were slipped on slowly. The world cleared and he squirmed away from the older male, staring up at him. He couldn't be there. It wasn't possible. He'd killed Eric. He'd hit his head with his death scythe. He was dead. He shook his head and struggled to put as much space between them as possible. He couldn't be there.

"It's alright, Puppy," Eric said, gently stroking his cheeks. "God, look at you... you're shaking and everything... I'm sorry you got tangled up in this... I wanted to keep you safe from this."

"Am I dead?" Ronald whispered.

That was the only explanation he could come up with. He had to be dead. Eric was here. White halls. A dark room. His heart was pounding. But then why would Alan and Michelle and the others be here? Eric sighed and shook his head, gently stroking his hair but he turned away quickly. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.

"Don't be silly," Eric sighed. "Now, do you remember we got in a fight?"

"No," he said quickly. "No, it was a demon."

"Come on, Puppy, think. You're a genius, you know it wasn't a demon. We got in a fight, I knocked you down, but you recognised me and I had to bring you in. I wish you'd just walked away, I could have saved you all this pain." He sighed and this time when he stroked Ronald's hair he let him, flinching and trembling but no turning away. "There, that's better. Now, if I undo your wrists will you stay calm?"

He nodded slowly, feeling a little numb but he needed to figure out what was going on. This was too weird to believe. Eric reached back gently and untied his wrists. Ronald instantly went to shove him away but Eric caught his hands gently.

"Let go," he hissed. "I want to go home."

"I can't just let you walk away, Ron," he said gently. "I'm sorry, I wish I could and I tried to keep you out of this but you have to swear to me you won't tell anyone I'm alive."

"Get off me. This isn't real, it can't be happening. Let me go!"

"Eric?" Alan called. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, fine," he replied.

"I want to go home!" Ronald cried. "I want William!"

Eric sighed and pulled him in against his chest, gently stroking his hair. Ronald couldn't stop himself shaking violently and sobbing weakly. His hands clenched slowly against Eric's shirt, unable to do anything but close his eyes and give up. Everything was just getting way too much. He just wanted to go home to William. Eric rocked him gently, stroking his hair and trying to calm him and not really getting very far.

"Would you like me to explain everything then?" Eric whispered. Ronald nodded a little. He might as well know why everything was so messed up. "This is the Midnight Branch. It's a top secret branch of reapers. The Undertaker used to be the head of branch, Michelle used to work here and Mark still does. The only way we get by is by keeping our existence secret. We have to fake my death so people would think justice had been done. I had to leave everyone I loved and these people will kill in an instant if they think the secret is in danger. That's why we got rid of Christian when he threatened to blow everything if Alan didn't agree to sleep with him."

"Alan knew?"

"Yes. I couldn't stand seeing him in so much pain, so I told him because I knew he wasn't going to tell anyone, but I hadn't seen him for seven years." Ronald nodded dumbly. He didn't know what to say. "Are you ok, Puppy?"

"I thought I'd killed you."

Eric sighed and kissed the top of his head, squeezing his arms gently around him. "God, Ron, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. If I'd known they'd done that to you... It hurt but it took barely a week to heal. Sorry, Ron, I didn't think they'd..." He sighed and stroked his hair gently. "I'm sorry." He sighed and snuggled against Eric's chest. "You know you can't tell anyone."

"But I-"

"Ronald, please, you can't tell anyone. They'll kill you if they think you're a danger to the branch security. You can't tell anyone."

"Alright..."

"Promise?"

He nodded slowly. "I promise. Stop calling me Puppy."

"Never."

"Only William calls me that anymore," Ronald whispered. "When we're doing bad things."

"Yeah, you tell William to keep his hands off Alan," Eric growled. "It all gets back to me in the end you know." Ronald nodded slowly and Eric leant back against the bed head, letting Ronald lean against his chest. "I know you don't trust me anymore, Ron, and I don't know when we're next going to see each other, but I do watch over you. I mean, I dealt with Mr Corbin for hitting you. He keeps a metal bar up his sleeve. I wasn't going to let him get away with that."

"Eric..."

"It's alright, kid, it's perfectly within regulations here. I'm above regulations here, don't worry. I'm safe from repercussions."

He sighed nodded slowly. "Thank you, Eric."

"I'd do anything for my little brother, you know that. Don't worry, we'll get you back to William soon, ok?" Ronald nodded and smiled to himself as Eric stroked his cheek gently. "Get some rest, Puppy. You've been through a lot, just get some sleep, we'll get you back to William soon as we get clearance."

"It's really quiet in there," Alan whispered, glancing over at Mark and Peter. "Are they ok, do you think?"

"I think they're probably ok," Peter said quietly. "That kid is ridiculously resilient." Alan nodded and got up slowly. "You don't have to disturb them."

Alan frowned and opened the door slowly. He smiled. Eric and Ronald were curled up together on the bed, the sheets thrown carelessly over them. Peter and Mark leant over his shoulder and laughed between them.

"We'll leave you to it," Mark said quietly.

"Don't leave before we say you can," Peter said firmly. "You need the proper clearance for him." Alan nodded. "We'll stop by as soon as it's sorted."

"Thanks," Alan said.

He shut the door behind the pair and returned to the bedroom. The two people he loved most in the world, cuddled up together. He shut the door quietly behind him, kicked off his shoes and let his jacket, vest and tie fall to the ground as he climbed up onto the bed next to Ronald. He lay next to him slowly and reached around, slowly slipping his fingers between Eric's and resting their hands gently on Ronald's side. The younger boy smiled and sighed, although Alan noticed he was still trembling and there were still tears dripping down his cheeks. He smiled. Poor little Ronald. He'd hated lying to him for so long, making him feel like he was a killer. Things could only get better now he supposed.

Next thing he knew, Ronald was stirring and whimpering. He groaned and opened his eyes slowly. Eric was hushing him, stroking his hair and whispering gently. Ronald had been locked up for almost two days and from what Mark had said he was under the influence of sleeping pills a lot of the time. He was bound to be a little restless but he sounded a little distressed. He frowned.

"You ok, Ronald?" he said gently.

"I want William," he said. "I want to go home to William."

"As soon as possible," Eric said. Alan sighed. He didn't even miss the pained tone to his voice. He knew separating was going to hard every time. "You can go home as soon as the paper work is filed."

"You can't tell anyone, Ronald, remember that," Alan said, wrapping his arms around him.

"If there's a security leak we all get killed," he continued. "You get killed for leaking it, I get killed for telling you, Alan gets killed because I told him, Michelle gets killed for telling me before I was accepted... and whoever you tell will be killed as well. You understand how serious this is, right? The more people know the more serious it is."

"Yeah," Ronald whispered.

"What are you going to tell William and Grell?"

"What they're expecting to hear," Alan said firmly. "Grell said he saw a demon pull you away. That's all they need to know."

"William won't buy it," Ronald said. "He knows when I'm lying."

"But he won't push it if he thinks it upsets you too much."

William stared at the door in silence. For the second night in a row, he was getting up from bed every hour or so for a drink, hating how empty his bed felt without Ronald. And every time he expected to open his eyes to find Ronald lying in his arms once again, that in the morning he'd laugh at him for being so worried. But with every passing hour it seemed less and less likely. They had the day off tomorrow. If Ronald wasn't home by morning, he'd check the hospital- he hoped so much that Ronald wasn't in hospital and no one had told him- he'd be forced to tell head office and then he'd go looking for him.

Of course, with every hour that passed it also became less and less likely Ronald would return on his own and in good shape. After all, Ronald wasn't known for being a shy, quiet and cooperative boy. When he was in danger he'd mouth off and say stupid, infuriating things before thinking that maybe it was a better idea to just do what his captors asked and get out without injury. The academy taught them that survival was the most important thing. No matter what it took, survive. No one would blame him for anything. There was once he and Ronald had been in a tight spot, he had seen Ronald flirt his way out of trouble but that didn't work with everyone. He didn't care either. No matter what Ronald have done or what had happened to him, as long as he came home he'd been happy.

William's fist clenched around the glass. It was a great start back to work. He'd only just returned to his position as supervisor and on his first day back he'd lost one of his subordinates. Not just any subordinate even. He'd lost Ronald. If anything had happened to him William would never forgive himself. He put away the glass again and slowly returned to the bedroom. It was so cold any empty and silent. He'd almost dared to hope that he'd opened the bedroom door and there'd be that familiar mop of blonde hair half buried under the covers, sleeping soundly. There wasn't. Of course there wasn't. It was silly to think there would be but he was getting more than just worried. He was almost scared.

He sighed and climbed into bed, slowly pulling the covers up. More than anything, he hoped Ronald knew he was going to find him. No matter where Ronald was, no matter what had happened to him or who was keeping him, he'd find him and he would make whoever had taken him pay. William closed his eyes and tried to sleep, hoping Ronald was at least had the luxury of being allowed to sleep. He hated the idea that he could be hurt and kept in such a way that he wouldn't be able to sleep. Hopefully Ronald would take some comfort knowing that he would never give up until he was safe. He'd been tempted to go out overnight and search but Grell had made the very good point- especially unusual for Grell- that he could miss something if he was exhausted. It was better to be rested and sharp and efficient.

He awoke again an hour and a half later. He sat up slowly and frowned. Something was wrong. There was movement outside the bedroom door. He got up slowly and went to the door, hearing quiet voices.

"I'm ok, stop fussing." William's eyes widened. It was Ronald. He was home. Someone had brought Ronald back to him. "Get off, I'm fine."

William reached for the door when the second voice piped up and he froze. "I know, just... look after yourself, ok?" His stomach churned. That wasn't possible. "And wait 'til I'm gone before you wake him up. I don't want to get caught."

"I know..." Ronald sighed and William stepped back from the door. "When will I see you again?"

"I don't know," Eric said quietly. "I honestly don't. I wish I could give you even a rough idea but... I do keep an eye on things. I won't let anyone hurt you but I don't know when I can see you like this again." He sighed and William returned to be silently. "I'm sorry, Puppy, you can't tell him."

"I know."

"If you ever really need me-"

"I know..."

"Good bye Puppy."

"Bye."

William closed his eyes and after a few more minutes the door opened and closed. There was movement and the rustling of fabric before the bed dipped, the covers moved and the little blonde slid into his arms. He turned away slowly and Ronald gasped softly. The mattress shifted again. There had to be a reasonable explanation. Eric being alive and Ronald going missing, then turning up with him... He knew what Grell would say. That Ronald was having an affair. Ronald would never do that though. He knew Ronald wouldn't. The little blonde pressed a hand against his shoulder and rolled him over, this time lying on his chest, pulling his arms around him and holding his hands to keep him from rolling away again. There was a soft, whimpering sob and William suddenly realised Ronald was crying. He opened his eyes slightly and glanced down at him, slowly pulling on hand from Ronald's grip, much to the young boy's disliking, to gently stroke his hair.

"Hey..." Ronald whispered shakily. "I didn't mean to wake you."

William smiled gently and brushed away his tears. "You should have woken me. How long have you-"

"Not long," he said, slowly pushing up to lean over him. "I'm sorry if I worried you."

"No... it's ok, now," William said, sitting up and carefully drawing Ronald onto his lap, brushing his tears away again. "You're home now, that's what matters." He pressed their lips together gently and Ronald smiled. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he whispered. "Yeah, I think so. We can talk about it tomorrow, right?"

William nodded and Ronald pushed him down again, curling up in his arms. Ronald obviously didn't want him to know about Eric... whatever was going on, he wasn't sure he cared. As long as Ronald was there, as long as he always came home, he could do whatever he liked. William almost laughed to himself. He sounded like some smitten child. He loved Ronald so much as long as the little blonde stayed with him he didn't care what he was doing sneaking around with Eric. He squeezed his arms around him and Ronald hummed softly.

"Love you, William."

"I love you too, Ronald," he said quietly. He kissed the top of his head and closed his eyes. "I'm glad you're home."