The city streets were busy, as always, albeit less so in this particular stretch of street away from the major streets and tourist spots. Dogs could be heard barking, the sidewalk wasn't that well maintained, and there were an odd amount of shoes hanging from powerlines, but the rent was cheap and that was the most important part of living there, although getting a hold of the landlords to fix anything was about like catching Santa Claus sneaking down the chimney. It was a bit odd when a black van slithered down the street. It came to a stop in front of an apartment building, prompting a man on the passenger side to get out while the driver was left waiting.

He was dressed in a cheap, dark grey, suit with a white shirt and purple tie. He didn't want the intimidation of a visibly expensive suit, but needed to look official, so it was a good choice. His face alone was intimidating enough, but not in a conventional way. The man was frightening in how pretty he was, with pale, blonde, hair, icy blue eyes, and a cat-like face that was harmless at times, but at others, made him look as though he knew something that the person talking to him didn't. The man with the cat-like face ascended the stairs, checking a pocket-sized memopad in order to make sure he had the right address. The man walked up to the door and knocked three times, then waited patiently for the person on the other side to answer.

It was a frail-looking man with a splotchy complexion. He was thin, with dark circles around his eyes and looked like he was in serious need of help. It was almost understandable that his tone wasn't the most enthusiastic when he spoke.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Taylor Lexington?" the blonde smiled with a tilt of his head. "Is this the right place?"

"Yeah? Why?" Mister Lexington looked disgruntled with a furrowed brow until his visitor pulled out a badge. Taylor's eyes widened immediately.

"I'm with HELLSING. Supernatural Relations. My name is Jim Phantomhive, and I was wondering if you could answer a few ques-" The Phantomhive was cut off as Mister Lexington tried to shut the door in his face, only for the demon to block it with his shoe. "You aren't in any kind of trouble, Mister Lexington. I only want to know about the rise in incubi and succubi deaths in London. I want to help."

Taylor didn't budge for a moment and continued to put pressure on the door while he weighed the pros and cons of letting the man inside to ask his questions. If he refused, he may come back with more people, but if he accepted? What would happen? He could be arrested or worse, but he didn't really know what for. Did the blonde man in the grey suit need one? Probably not. If he was going to be killed, though, Taylor decided that perhaps the path of least resistance was better. Cautiously, he opened the door again and gestured for the other man to come through. With a smile on his face, Jim took him up on the offer and quietly walked into the small apartment, taking great care as to not make any sudden or otherwise threatening movements.

"Thank you for your help." the menace said. "I'm aware that it's scary to have HELLSING show up at your door, but I'm not here to take anybody away or hurt them at all. I really just want to know about the problems you all are facing in the city."

"Typical stuff." Mister Lexington stated, shutting the door. "They all starved to death. Surely you've figured that out already..."

"Not quite. The signs are there, but there isn't a lot of research about your biology, so nobody was really able to confirm it." Patting the sides of his legs, Jim looked around. "Can we sit down?"

"Go ahead." the incubus answered, gesturing again. He sat down on the sofa in the room while the menace sat down in a chair. It was a dingy thing that Taylor had gotten for free somewhere, but the menace didn't act repulsed to be sitting in it in the slightest. He leaned back all the way and somehow, the gesture made the incubus feel more at ease.

"I'm reaching for my notepad." the menace warned, holding up a hand before reaching into his jacket pocket. When he pulled it out, he showed it to the other man before taking out his pen and clicking it. "Let's see what we can do. I take it that it's not easy to find food out here?"

"No, it isn't…" Taylor sighed. "We were all used to people on the estate knowing what's up and being down for it, but now? We don't know anything… None of us knew what to do when we came out here and then on top of that, we have to hide what we are so we don't scare anybody off! That took out a lot of us right away..."

"Right… that would complicate things." There was a pause as Jim jotted it down in his notes. "When in the human world, you must do what the humans do, and I doubt that makes it any easier."

"Yeah… We've gone to bars, both as men and as women, but it's still difficult, there. As succubi, it's dangerous because of the human men and as incubi, the success rate is still rather low. It's the same when we use websites to arrange things, as well. The human males are obnoxious and scary, and the females don't always answer back. Not just dating sites, either. We've tried sites just for hooking up like we want to do, but the risks are the same."

"You network is gone..." the menace thought aloud.

"It is… Without it, we have to put in so much energy with little reward. It's like the difference between an animal out in the wild and an animal at the zoo..."

"How long have you gone without eating?" Jim's face was serious. He wasn't angry, he was concerned. This man looked like he had an appointment with a grim reaper coming up very soon, and although Jim wasn't savvy or on board with the idea, himself, he understood that it was vital that Taylor eats in the near future.

"About a month?" Taylor sighed. "Maybe a little more… Fuck…" He leaned forward and rubbed his forehead while looking at the floor. "I know I look awful… It doesn't help, either…"

"You don't have to hide your form. Save your energy."

Hesitantly, the incubus took the demon up on his offer and reverted back to his normal shape. His skin was solid purple and he now had horns and a tail, although the skin on both was somewhat ashy and dry. "Thank you… I'm sorry..." He was still very thin and worn down, but he looked slightly better.

"It's alright. Don't overexert yourself."

"It's hard… Things were hard in Gehenna, but not like this…" Shaking his head, the incubus continued. "We didn't have networks in Gehenna, either, and the incubi and succubi there didn't want us there… They didn't like that we didn't follow their rules- their beliefs… Some of use were okay with their restrictions, but a lot of use weren't. Now, we can't afford to have any at all. Some of the risks the others are taking… I'm worried that they're going be killed if they don't starve!"

"Dating sites?"

"Worse, some of them have… I don't want to say who it is- you know that, right?"

"Of course."

"Prostitution." the incubus said. "It's terrible… Luckily, most of them are able to have at least some choice in who they accept, but… It's still very dangerous and it's not even worth it. A lot of those men just want to own somebody for a while; you can't get quality energy from that! It's scraps. It's the worst of scraps!"

"I hear ya..." solemnly replied the Phantomhive, keeping his eyes focused downward on the paper without reading or writing anything. Nobody should have to resort to… "that" for the sake of survival! He didn't know what it was like to be an incubus, but he could somewhat imagine. He didn't want to, but he could. God, he needed his next therapy appointment… Still, the blonde had a job to do, and he was going to do it. "I don't have a solution, yet, but we'll do everything that we can."

"I don't know what you're gonna be able to do about it… It's pretty much over for us… The only ones who have any kind of success are… They're the ones who've gone back to the old ways..."

"What?" Looking up, Jim's face was serious. He had an idea of what the other man was referring to, but he prayed not.

"We have the ability to see what a person desires." Taylor explained with an equally grave tone. "I understand why those in Gehenna have their rules, now. It's so they don't ever feel like they can do this- like they can trick people while they're still dreaming."

"Who are they?"

"I can't say..."

"Who are they?" Jim said a bit more firmly. His brows were furrowed and his friendly demeanor had quickly faded. "Mister Lexington, I trust that you understand the severity of what they are doing as well as why they need to stop. You will tell me who they are and where I can find them."

"What's in it for me?" the incubus asked in response. Perhaps he had gotten too comfortable, as he rested his arms on the back of his couch. Jim wasn't amused as he noticed the way the other man was looking at him. He hated that. He hated that look, but did his very best to remain professional.

"It appears that you already have something in mind, Mister Lexington."

"Come on… I can sense you're frustrated, you know..."

"I'm married." Jim stated. "Also a prude."

"Husband not paying attention to you?" Taylor questioned.

"Away on business." The Phantomhive didn't bother asking about how he knew his orientation, because he was familiar enough with his friend, Logan, to guess.

"Even better." As Taylor spoke, his appearance began to change. His horns shrunk, his skin changed colour, as did his hair, and the shape of his face and his body began to change. "I can make it worth your while. You help me and I'll help you twice over. How's that?"

Jim's professionalism had limits, unfortunately, prompting him to very visibly roll his eyes. "My husband's a hunk, not a twunk. You're weak enough that you make him look sick! God, I never wanna see him like that... Besides, the eye's wrong!"

"Okay, smart guy, then what the hell do I get out of helping you, huh?!" Taylor demanded with a sour look on his face.

"You get the luxury of not getting arrested."

"I thought you said that you weren't going to do that?"

"That was before I learned that a few of your incubus and succubus homies are committing rape by deception. You can't do that, Mister Lexington. That's a pretty big 'no-no.'"

The incubus opened his mouth to speak, but his words died in his throat. Spelling it out that bluntly was a bit of a shock to him. He knew it was bad, but he hadn't quite gotten the raw perspective of it. "I- Well… Hm..." There were no arguments he could make, either.

"I want names and where to find them, please." Jim reiterated, but the other man was still hesitant.

"They… You're going to… kill them, aren't you?"

"Not my department, I'm afraid. Either HELLSING will pass judgment, or they will be judged by their supernatural peers." Personally, Jim would, but he wasn't going to say that. "Please… You know that what they're doing is wrong and seriously damaging to other people. It'll bring you down, too, in the end..."

Jim walked out of that apartment with a list of names and addresses, leaving the incubus alone with his head in his hands. The demon descended the stairs back down to the ground floor and traveled to his awaiting car. He felt no remorse for the things that he knew came next. He knew that the names on that list would surely end up dead in the very near future, but he would not shed a single tear for them. They were monsters, in his eyes, and should be dealt with accordingly. He would take those names to the appropriate authority once he returned to headquarters, but for the time being, he pulled out his cellphone and sent a message.

At headquarters, he briefed the taskforce for the relevant mission on what he had found. "In addition to the information about illegal incubi and succubi activity in London, when I went to location C that was retrieved from the relevant letter, I retrieved a list of names and locations of those committing said crimes." he explained. "I have disclosed those locations to the appropriate departments, but one name that came up is extremely relevant to this investigation, as is further evidence of something that we already knew. Hammond Granger is not who he says he is."

A/N: Hello~! I'm back again~! Was it even long enough for you to notice? I haven't had my computer for... Since last monday? I dunno. The post is on tumblr, somewhere. I had my phone. My laptop charger has a broken part on it, so I haven't been able to write or post this. I was able to "liberate" the chord I needed from someone else, but I'll probably have my own soon and can give it back. Amazon let me down, y'all... I'm going to have to like, go to stores and ASK people...

Anyway, how are y'all? How are things? I was so lost without being able to write... *sobs*

BUT! I did have a chapter part of the way through when I was so rudely cut off by technological difficulties, but at this rate, it should be done very soon. I kinda hesitated on posting this one, actually. I have no idea what the consensus on this arc is. Chapters will be posted into the void, regardless.

And to Jman. 'Sup, Jman? He lives in the void, apparently. Prime real estate. Low costs of living. Good schools for his Jchildren.

Or something?

It's been a while. I don't remember how to do A/Ns. They're lost on me. I'm lost- Adrift in this duckless pond.

Until the next chapter, my void-duckies~!