|A Few Days Later|

Star stretched out in the big bed, curling her toes under the covers as she let out a big yawn. She was alone in Joker's tent, listening to the quietness of the still sleeping camp around her. She rolled on her belly, running her left hand through her hair as she felt around on the ground in search of a shirt. She had to go and wake up the first string members, and then get the second string members in charge of food started on breakfast.

'Have to … get up… where are my socks?' she asked aloud, almost falling out of bed as she reached around with her eyes closed. It was easier to get out of bed if Joker was around, since he usually threatened to push her out of the bed if she tried to sleep in. Eventually he had actually pushed her out of the bed, claiming it was an accident afterwards. She'd gotten revenge by 'accidentally' kicking him in her sleep. He still didn't believe her afterwards, but let it slide, just mussing up her hair a bit.

She wondered why Joker had gone away without giving her any warning beforehand. It had been the day after Smiles and Black had disappeared. He had seemed fairly normal in the morning, but during the day he had grown more brooding. He'd been talking with Dagger in hushed tones, stopping his sneaking around whenever she got close enough to try and overhear them.
And then in the evening he had just announced he would be leaving in the evening. She had protested loudly at this, not caring if anybody heard them. Joker had placed his finger on her lips, hushing her just as soon as she had flared up.

'It's just for a little while.' He had promised her, looking at her with gentle, green eyes. 'It won't be very long at all. I'll be back before ye know it.' He gave her a soft push on the nose at that point, trying to look very strict with her.
'While I'm gone, ye better make sure to take care of things, okay Star?' he had asked her, raising an eyebrow.
She'd shuffled her feet, looking at the ground. 'I've been helping you with all your chores recently, haven't I? I'm sure I'll be able to do things just like you do them.'
He'd put his arm around her shoulder when she said that, giving Dagger and Doll who were standing close to them a wink. 'Ye hear that? Star will be managin' most o' the things here while I'm gone. Do yer best to help her, okay?'

Star let out a sigh when she finally managed to put on some socks and a clean shirt. Her hand trailed the small vanity Joker had in his tent, a finger slowly following a crack in the wood. His bowties were arranged neatly, colors clashing with each other in a way that would be expected of a ring leader. Make-up containers were standing about, with the eyeliner and black make – up he used to paint on his face, and hers as well.
'I wonder how Smiles is doing?' she asked herself, thinking about the young boy. He had seemed like someone who was in pain, uncertain of just what his place in this world really was. On top of that, the way he had been sick so suddenly had reminded her of her little brother in an almost painful way. She hoped that he was doing okay, wherever he was.
She pulled her hair up in a ponytail, keeping a look in the mirror as she worked until someone coughed at the entrance of the tent.

'Come in.' she answered, grabbing a pair of gloves from the chest near the bed. Dagger walked in, arms thrown behind his head. Already fully dressed and wide awake, he tried to grab Star in a hug. She ducked for a belt, leaving the man's arms grabbing in the air as she did so.
'Staaaar…' he whined when his arms only caught air. 'Brother asked me to take good care of ye, so why are ye avoiding me?'
'I doubt Joker thinks assaulting me in the morning is part of taking care of me.' She yawned, tying the belt around her waist. Dagger watched her, pouting at this comment.

'Well, at least ye're awake this time. Yesterday I still had to drag ye out of bed.' He commented with a big grin.
Star squinted at him, trying to scare him into stopping to talk about things that weren't important for today. 'That doesn't mean that you have to keep checking in on me just to make sure I'm awake. I'll do the things that I need to do to keep things running smoothly while Joker is away. So just trust me, Dagger!'

Dagger let out a sigh at her outburst, keeping his arms in the air as he shook his head back and forth. 'Just cuz' ye're the ringleader's sweet'eart don't mean ye can take things easy, ye know? That's why Joker asked me an' Doll to keep an eye on ye. Just to make sure ye'll be doin' fine.'
Star huffed her bangs out of her face, crossing her arms in front of her. 'I know that… but it would be nice if… you know… if I could already do stuff like this on my own. You and Doll have enough to worry about as it is. You don't need my work on top of it.'

Dagger patted her on the back as he walked to the entrance. Before ducking out again he gave her a smart wink, tapping the side of his nose slightly. 'Don't worry about it. Workin' with the two of us, it's nice. C'mon then. Lots of people need wakin' up after all.'

|Later That Day|

Star looked over one of the old newspapers the second string members had brought in. The paper had a variety of uses in the circus, but it couldn't hurt to keep her reading skills on par a little bit. This one dated around two weeks ago, and she flipped through it as the other papers were being torn to shreds.
'Sheesh… no matter where or how, a lot of the news just keeps being the same.' She muttered between her teeth after seeing the umpteenth party announcement.

She dropped the paper on the pile next to her, reaching for the next one. The headlines blared out something about missing children in the country.
'What a shame.' She thought to herself, perusing the paper in search of the full article. She skimmed through it, looking for the important information. Doll and Jumbo were standing near her, listening to her as she told them what the paper said.
'Seems like somebody is kidnapping a lot of kids descending from the noble families. From all over the country at that, it's like the guy who's doing this sure has a lot of time to move around. And on top of that, they're killing of pretty much everyone who's in the house the moment they take the kids. Talk about not being subtle at all.'

Jumbo grunted something, in a way that suggested he didn't really listen to anything she was telling the two of them. Doll on the other hand kept a steady eye on her friend as she was talking.
'There's a list with the missing children as well.' Star continued, started to read through the names. While some of the names were unfamiliar to her, her gaze grew a little darker when she recognized the name of the family from when she still was a noble.
'B-b-b-but…' she stuttered as she reached the next line in the paper. She started to shake her head back and forth furiously, causing Doll to step closer and lay a hand on her back when she saw the distress on the face of her friend. Tears welled up in her eyes as she crumpled up the paper with her tight grasp on it.

'I don't believe it.' She said, shaking her head as she fought to keep back her tears. Maybe if she didn't cry, she wouldn't… it wouldn't be real. If she could just deny it.
'Star? What's wrong, Star? Please tell me.' Doll asked, trying to get a look at the papers Star was holding. Star had begun to teach her how to read, but she wasn't at a level for actually reading a paper yet.
The young woman finally let her tears fully flow, fleeing into Doll's arms for comfort. 'George… George's name is in the paper with the names of the missing children!' she cried out, letting out her emotions in painful sobs.

'Star…' Doll muttered under the weight of the woman. Jumbo looked to the sides, obviously not comfortable with the situation. Even Peter and Wendy had quieted down from their usual ruckus when they saw Star was crying. A few glances were enough to communicate the news among the first string members : she knew her brother was missing.

|Half An Hour Later|

Star had gotten in control of her emotions again, or at least that was what she was trying to tell herself. In truth she was still shaking from sadness and a surprising amount of anger. Someone had taken her little brother away from a place which she had thought was safe. Which had been supposed to make that nothing bad could happen to him. Somebody had hurt her little brother.

She wanted to scream in anger and cry in despair. She couldn't think straight anymore in this kind of situation. Finally her digging fingers found what she had been looking for. She looked at the mechanical contraption she held in her hand. It seemed to be smaller than when she had been using it to keep herself safe so she could keep take care of her little brother.

She tied the mechanic knife to her wrist, slapping the button on the side once quickly. The blade whipped out in a short swoosh, smooth as ever. She looked down at it, before selecting the clothes least likely to stand out. Once she had changed, she looked in the mirror. She almost looked like the girl that came straight from the streets again. Almost. There was a certain leanness, a quickness in her eyes that had been created in this place.
Perhaps she would be better suited for a rescue mission than she had thought.

Once outside she quickly made for the meadow they had rented for the horses. When Devil saw her approaching, he whinnied at her. She took out a saddle, wasting no time in getting it on the black horse. It sensed her mood, nervously stepped in place a bit. She swung her leg over the horse, turning him towards the fence gate.

'Star, wait!' Doll yelled, waving an arm as she ran towards the girl. 'Where are ye goin'?' she panted, placing her hands on her knees as she gulped for air. Her one eye looked up at the woman who looked as grim as death, seated on the tall, black stallion.

'I'm going to find my brother, Doll.' She answered, gathering the reins more firmly in her hand. Devil's broad back between her legs was warm, reassuring her of the speed and strength the animal could muster. 'I'll go back to Augustine's mansion, and look for clues there. If I can't find something there, I'll look elsewhere. Somebody must know something, someone must have seen anyone. If I'm not back before Joker gets here… tell him I… Well… he'll know.'

Doll grabbed Star's leg, throwing her full weight against the horse. Apart from a soft whinny, Devil gave no sign he even noticed the girl pushing against him.
'Star… I know where George is.' She whispered, barely moving her lips as the warm vapor of her breath parted from her mouth.

Star steadied Devil, looking down at the girl in surprise. 'What do you know, you know where George is?' she asked, not believing her ears. Tears welled up in Doll's eye as she looked up to her. Star had considered Doll to be a sister, someone she could trust. And now she claimed to know where George had been taken to?

Doll swallowed once, looking at the laces on Star's shoe as she talked. 'Ye 'ave heard us talkin' about Father, haven't ye? That's where George is. That's where all those kids are. Father asks us to take them, and bring them to 'im.'
Star looked down in surprise, not able to utter a single word.
'Joker didn't take 'im, I promise! He didn't know! But Father told us, and if Brother disobeyed… That's why Beast told us to do it.'

The knuckles of her hand turned white as Star gripped the reigns in a tight clench. Things went white in front of her eyes, and she didn't quite believe what she had just heard. Joker, take children? Beast, take George?
'I'll deal with Beast later then. Tell me where I can find your father.' Star growled. As soon as she heard where she could find the man who currently had her brother, she galloped away from the circus.

|In the Country Fields|

The moon had just started to climb the horizon as Star kept Devil on a straight course towards Kelvin's mansion. The horse kept a good pace, but even so, he couldn't run for hours. The moments when Star was forced to grant the horse some respite were the moments when she was biting her nails down to the very flesh, touching the little switchblade at her wrist for reassurance.

'Joker… what have you been doing? Why did you do it?' Would he have taken her brother to please his father? How many had he already taken? What happened to them in that mansion? Was her brother already dead?

Devil's warm body was the only thing keeping her warm. When he slowed down to a trot again, she tried to gain her bearings from the surrounding countryside. She was going the right way, but with no discernable landmarks, it was impossible to see how far it was to the Kelvin place.

The sound of a horse-drawn coach rattled behind her. She gently urged Devil to the side of the road to make place for the coach, but let out a scream when something knocked her from the horse. A gloved hand quickly covered her mouth, and dark brown eyes looked down at her in vague amusement, glittering in the moonlight.
She recognized Black swiftly, before he forced her towards the coach. The boy leaning his head out of the window was one she recognized quickly as well. Smiles.

'Are you going to report to Baron Kelvin that we found him out, Star?' the young boy inquired, his blue eye dazzling in the moonlight. Black let go of her mouth, leaving her gasping for air. Devil trotted behind them, pressing his nose against the tall man's back.

'What do you mean, going to report to him? I have a bone to pick with that man. What about you, Smiles? Did you go back to your family?' she retorted, ignoring the slight pinch Sebastian gave her in the small of her back.

'You shall address the young master as Earl Phantomhive.' Black suggested helpfully. Star whipped her eyes back to the black-haired boy. 'Phantomhive? You mean the Queen's Watchdog? You? You're just a runt, you're hardly older than my little brother!'

Black gave her another pinch, before receiving the order to shove Star in the coach with the Phantomhive child, after which he took his at the front again. Devil trotted behind them, having been bound to the back of the coach quickly.
Smiles – Earl Phantomhive – looked at her intently, without giving any hint of what he was thinking. Finally he said something.

'What kind of bone could you have to pick with the Baron?' he inquired, folding his hands on the top of his staff.

'He has George. I'm going to get him back. And I'm going to ask Joker what the big idea was, why he did the things he did. Why are you going there?' she asked back, leaning back in the cushions. At least it seemed like they were going the direction she had wanted to go.

'It's like you said. I am the Queen's Watchdog. I am under orders from her Majesty to go and find the missing children and the person responsible for taking them. You're lucky I can't count you as an accomplice, seeing as how your brother has also been taken.'

Star showed a sad smile when the young boy spoke so harshly to her. 'Smiles… I was worried about you. Maybe you should leave this to me. I can take care of this. It's going to be dangerous. Wait outside the mansion, and let me go inside alone. I'm sure I'll be able to manage.'

Phantomhive showed her the first real inkling of a terrifying smile when she offered her protection to him. 'I think you are quite mistaken, Star. If anything, I and Sebastian shall be the ones who will do the managing. You'll be lucky if you can come inside with us.'
The boy looked straight ahead of him, as if he could already see his destination and the outcome of the entire affair. Star almost felt afraid under the dark glare coming from the boy.

'Even if you say that, young Earl… I am still responsible for my family. I will be the one to go and find George. I will be the one to deal with Joker. And if it is necessary, I will also be the one to handle you if you seem like you are letting things get out of hand.'

Phantomhive leered at her now, slightly squinting his eyes at her serious tone. 'Will you know?'

'Yes.' Star replied, smiling back at him. 'And you can begin by fixing your scarf.'

|Moon's Note : There is a poll concerning this story on my main page. So, if you want to have a say in how the story ends, be sure to check it out, okay? Also, review! Let me know what you think about the story! It's almost done, so take your chance!|