A/N: *headwall* Sorry about the late update but I haven't forgotten about this fic! I know what kind of crack I'm capable of producing but I hope you enjoy my manipulation of the doomsday book arc. :p (Also, thank you all so much for subscribing!)
W. A. G. E. R.
Chapter Five
File No. 1799-1889
(III)
2011.4.29, 09:54am, London, St. James Square Garden.
Revisiting their memorable place, both William and Grell were slightly amazed by the unreachable flow of time.
"Hey, Will." Resting his head on William's shoulder, Grell sucked from a cup of raspberry juice, "You remember this spot?"
"Of course I do, idiot…" Putting his palm on the trunk, William asked, "Remember how your head was smashed into this thing?"
Mentally replaying the scenes from that night, Grell let out a light giggle, "Well, I can't believe it took me so many years to be, you know, penetrated by you… I mean for real."
A frown formed on William's face at the redhead's suggestive words, "It's only been a few years. I don't see why it appears so unbelievable to you. It's not like we got stuck with each other for as long as 90 years or something…"
"I just want you to know that I've been yours ever since that evening❤."
"Okay, we need to end this conversation. We've got work to do today; otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place." William ranted on as Grell passed the cup of juice to him, "I've told you to buy two cups, but I have no idea why you insisted on getting one cup and two straws instead…"
"But it's more romantic to share the same cup of drink."
"It's awkward and ridiculous." While William was sucking on one straw, Grell leaned closer and bit the tip of the other one.
The two silently sat under the shade.
When the cup was empty, William put it away from his mouth and leaned forward to plant a quick kiss to Grell's lips.
Flushed by William's sudden kiss, Grell drew a deep breath to calm himself down before asking, "Will, when I heard the news, the first suspect that came up to my mind was Sebby. How come you said he was unlikely?"
"I know exactly what Funtom Corp. can and is willing to do. However, I don't think they would do something so, say, indirect?" William alertly glanced around as he spoke, "That's why I think someone was trying to pin the crime on Funtom Corp. They want us to believe that Funtom Corp. was the culprit and stir up a fight between us. If we fall into the trap, both we and Funtom Corp. would lose, and this unknown third-party would be the final winner… Therefore before I figure out who's behind this conspiracy, I need a face-to-face meeting with Sebastian Michaelis today."
Reliable information showed that Sebastian was still in Glasgow until this morning. William was certain that Eric and Alan were already kept in captivity, but no further details were available yet. What drove Sebastian back to London was an incident involving his master. Just this morning, Ciel Phantomhive was kidnapped on his way to the royal wedding. William knew Sebastian would immediately arrive at London to save his boss. Therefore when he learnt that the ransom was brought into the London Library by a transvestite, William knew Sebastian would show up.
The pair stood under the tree and watched a limousine stop in front of the library.
"He is here, Will."
"Okay, I guess I need to clarify something first." William warned as he slightly pinched Grell's back from behind, "I let you deal with that bastard alone because he is not as cautious as he would be when I'm present. However, this does not mean you can flirt with him all you wa –"
"Understood, Sir❤!" Grell cut his sentenced and added, "You really know me too well, dear."
"Honestly, you weren't listening, were you?"
Unfortunately, it was too late since Grell had already switched himself to the right mode, "Okay, I'm going now!" He left a peck on William's face before he set off to confront Sebastian.
Watching the redhead skip away from him, William felt his cheeks burning for unexplainable reasons.
XXXXX
The moment Sebastian exited the car, he felt a stream of coldness running down his spine. He knew that feeling did not come out of nowhere, especially when a familiar redhead was running toward him.
"Long time no see, Sebby! Do give me a nice French kiss. Quick…"
Sebastian swiftly dodged and asked, "What are you doing here, ?"
"Waiting for my prince to take me to his castle in a limousine, of course❤!"
Emotionless, Sebastian objected, "Sorry, . I'm busy now."
"Oh, so you know where Angela Brown hid the kid?"
Sebastian stopped and turned around, "I'm assuming you are offering a helping hand? That was unexpected."
"Well, I'm not stupid so don't expect anything from me. However…" Grell took out a library staff card (which belonged to William) and swung it before Sebastian's eyes, "do you think you know more about the inside of the library than I do?"
What Grell was doing was undoubtedly suspicious, but Sebastian couldn't see much harm in bringing company into the library, "Guess I'll let you be my guide then, ."
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2011.4.29, 10:29am, London, London Library, Art Room.
"There are only a few rooms that need booking before entering. If the kidnapper wanted to hide, it's likely that he would choose one of these rooms." Grell explained as he opened the door of the art room, "So, let's begin here!"
"That's very kind of you, ." Despite showing his gratitude, Sebastian remained skeptical, "It struck me that you'd probably fantasized a list of unreasonable conditions which I need to fulfill for you after I find my young master. I hope I'm wrong." To be honest, he would not be surprised if Grell asked him for another French kiss in return at the end of the day, provided that Ciel was sound and safe.
Grell snickered at the comment, "If you really want to pay me back, Sebby, I wouldn't mind. Really❤." He leaned on the door of the room and gestured, "Just get in. I won't disturb you."
"So you are colder to me than usual, but remained attracted by me. How am I supposed to react to this?"
"You'd better figure out how to save the guy who gives you cheques first."
With a final stare at the redhead, Sebastian dashed into the room.
A brunette walked out from behind a shelf when Sebastian's entrance stirred up some noise. "Did you book this room, sir?"
Sebastian shook his head, "No. Is this a requirement?"
The maiden smiled and answered, "Yes, some rooms in the library need to be booked before you use them. This is one of them. I'm a staff here so I can go in and out all I want." Judging from how Sebastian was dressed, it was likely that he had just completed a long journey. So the girl asked, "I assume you're a visitor who has just arrived here in London, sir?"
Sebastian couldn't help but smile, with dark reasons in his head: She couldn't even recognize my London accent? Good, this woman is easy to fool. Just then, he spotted a strand of white hair on the girl's shoulder – pure white hair. So she's involved with Angela Brown. Possibly a planted agent here in the library. Sweet, let's start from here… Sebastian quickly drafted a plan in his mind as he lowered his upper body and asked politely, "How clever… In fact, this is my first trip here. Please forgive me for been completely ignorant about the rules." Suddenly, he leaned closer to the girl's face and whispered to her delicate ears with his heart-melting voice, "Yet there's still one thing I don't understand: why is an attractive lady like you working in such a dull place?"
The girl was totally freaked out by the sudden shortening of distance between their faces and was slightly trembling with her cheeks painted pink.
Sebastian took a quick look at her staff card and saw the name on it. "Ah, so your name is Matilda? What a beautiful name. Not to mention the acronym 'MS' is my own going backwards. What a coincidence!" Knowing the girl was gradually drowning in rapid heartbeats, Sebastian handed her the last straw, "I've got so many questions to ask… Could you please give me a hand?"
With her ruby lips quivering, the girl nodded, "Su, sure…"
"That's very kind of you…" A cold grin stretched across Sebastian's face.
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2011.4.29, 10:34am, London, London Library, corridor.
"Ah… Ah, no… Do stop… It's, it's dirty…"
"How, how could it be…"
Pleads, together with loud moans, almost drove Grell into the vortex of insanity. He regretted that he let Sebastian enter the bathroom with that girl. However, his even bigger regret was that he bugged Sebastian and had to listen to the whole process in the name of information collecting. What he got himself into was nothing but catastrophic ear porn.
"Damn… How I want to end that woman's life by emptying all her bank accounts…" Grell muttered to himself while venting his anger by biting his ribbon. In fact, he wanted to rip all the cables and stomp all the bugs into pieces more than anything else. This is intolerable, unforgiving… No use balancing the pros and cons. Let's just do it! He took off his earphones, and gathered all his equipment for the rubbish bin before his arms were smacked by the tip of a pruning pole. Everything fell onto the floor before Grell lifted his head and gasped, "Will!"
"Honestly, the itch in my head does exist for a reason, huh?" Picking up some of the wrecks on the floor, William said, "From how red your cheeks are and the fact that you nearly threw away all your equipment, I assume it's time for me to step in." However, his tongue froze the second he put one of the earphones in his ear…
The radio porn was still being broadcast live: "Oh, I can see it… I can see the gate to heaven…!"
William glared at the redhead and asked, "Since when?"
Grell bit his lower lip and answered, "Fifteen minutes or so ago, I guess?"
William went mute again.
The pair stared into each other's eyes as they continued to share a pair of earphones to listen to the adult radio drama starring Sebastian Michaelis.
"So this is why you seemed so… bothered." said William coldly.
Grell knew this conversation was going somewhere so he explained, nervously blushing, "That ordinary woman was apparently no match for Sebby! How could they get to this stage so quickly?" Then he realized William's eyes were locked on him. "Oh, Will, I didn't mean anything… I was only thinking… Okay, I think this is not helping. Anyway, anyway, I never thought about doing that with Sebastian so…"
Damn, I should stop explaining already…
To Grell's surprise, William's reaction was unexpectedly calm, "Never mind. What else have you got? I mean really important information."
"Important information? Ah, I just learnt that Sebby can reach that stage really, really quickly!"
That comment just pushed William beyond his limits - "Enough." He gripped Grell's hair and scolded, "You've wasted both of our time without getting anything back, and now you're telling me how good that bastard is?"
"Will, don't…" Grell clutched William's collar and added, "He's not as fantastic as you are…"
"You can't be hoping that I'd let you go like this."
"I am not lying!" Grell wrapped his arms around William's neck, "I've recorded the whole process. You'll know that I am telling the truth when you listen to the soundtrack again…"
"Don't you dare lie to me."
"Why would I lie to you?" Grell knew William would be the last one to admit that he was jealous even if it was just that obvious. So instead of explaining, he leaned closer to kiss William's lips.
"Hold on…" William slightly pushed Grell away while still resting his hand on Grell's waist, "We are working, Grell Sutcliff."
"So what? Sebby's already in that stage anyway…"
"Enough. I don't want to hear about him again. Not from you."
Before Grell could speak again, a current of harsh electronic noises beeped into their ears through the earphones. The two quickly took them off.
William turned around to find Sebastian exiting the washroom.
"I knew things weren't as simple as they seemed." Sebastian took off a bug that was no bigger than the tip of a pin from his collar, "I didn't want to admit this but it seems that our minds do think alike. Unfortunately, if two bugs were placed too close to each other, their signals would interfere… I was too careless to have let you bug me, but that wouldn't happen again." After that, Sebastian squeezed the bug into debris between his fingers.
William mentally mocked: Who cares whether it happens again or not? We've got the whole process recorded already. Just wait till I upload it onto the Internet…
As if William was saying his thoughts aloud, Grell couldn't stop snickering.
Sebastian, who had no idea why the pair remained silent, asked, "So you two really slept together?"
"What?"
"Oh, sorry. I was trying to ask the reason why you came to see me. It's definitely not about my young master, I presume?" Sebastian placed a hand on his side, indicating the weapon under his coat, "I've been extremely busy lately so it'd be really helpful if we could finish up once and for all."
Going straight into the core of discussion was exactly what William wanted, "You've probably heard that our headquarters was bombed into ruins."
"Of course. I've not heard such reassuring news in years." Sebastian smirked, "I was thinking about how to get rid of you five after the previous case. Then I realized that somebody had done it for me in an even more destructive fashion."
"So it wasn't you."
"I've told you that my young master is more interested in ending you on the open battlefield. Lower-class tricks like mass arson really aren't our type." He paused before continuing, "Can't you see someone is trying to set me up?"
"You deserve whatever your enemies do to you." remarked William. He really didn't give a damn about Sebastian's reputation. He was more interested in ruining it, in fact.
"Being cursed by you in the early morning is certainly a refreshing start." Sebastian feigned a smile as he bowed to the pair, "I must excuse myself since young master is still missing."
"So you still have no idea where he is?" asked the spectacled man with a pruning pole.
"I've already bugged a woman believed to be Angela Brown's understrapper. I'm sure I'll find them soon. Thanks for caring."
"Like I really do care…" William adjusted his glasses and shook his head, "I just don't find the situation overly optimistic when you happen to know so little about this building."
"So you know where they are, ?"
It was the time for William to officially announce his possession of the staff card, "I used to work here when I was young. You can't be more familiar with this place than I do. After all, I'm an honored member of the library. No way am I letting a nasty kidnapper make trouble in this solemn place."
Sebastian sighed, more irritated than reassured, "It seems impossible to get rid of you two now… Fine, then please show me the way, Grim Reapers."