Break's POV

"I'm going!" Break called. "I'll be back in an hour!"

"Do you need me to go with you?" Quilla asked with concern. Break shook his head.

"I'll be fine. I've been to Pandora headquarters enough times to go through it blind," he assure her. He could feel her gaze resting on him.

"Alright." He felt for the door knob, and went out the door to meet Reim in a carriage. He sat and sighed.

"I'm afraid that I might know what this is about…" Break muttered.

"You never know." Break snorted.

"With that man, yes I do know Reim." He pulled a piece of candy from his pocket, and popped it in his mouth, letting the sweet thing melt over his tongue and relax him.

"Xerxes?"

"Hmm?" Reim was silent for a moment.

"Married…it doesn't seem like you at all," he said, changing the subject. Break closed his eye, smiling.

"I know, the others were surprised as well, even her, when I asked her to…when I told her I wanted her to be…" The words still felt strange coming from his mouth, as if they didn't belong to him. "Anyways, before you changed the subject, my point was that I'm not doing Rufus' bidding. I never have, and I don't plan on staring now, especially when I know why he wants me going on these missions. I'm not going to let hm catch me so easily." Reim sighed.

"Break, you know he's not going to stop."

"I know…" he stated, annoyed. The rest of the ride was silent. They arrived at the headquarters, and Break followed the sound of Reim's footsteps to the meeting hall. He took a deep breath, and opened the door.

"Mad Hatter, or should I say, Kevin Regnard?" Break glared.

"Rufus Barma." He couldn't see, but he could easily picture the condescending frown on the red-headed man's lips.

"Sit." Break found a seat, and did so.

"What do you want Barma?" Break heard footsteps behind him.

"I would like to know why you have refused yet another mission of mine?" Break smirked.

"Other than the fact that your missions are a complete waste of my time? Well, I happen to have a wedding coming up. I am required to attend, seeing as it's mine." Break assumed he didn't take kindly to his biting response, because he heard Rufus huff.

"Ah, that girl you were with the other day?" Break frowned.

"Don't worry, I've been keeping an eye on you, and your little sweetheart. You know what I've discovered? That she was the girl who accompanied you in all of those murders, and then into the Abyss. You know what that could mean for her…" Break gritted his teeth, slammed his hands on the table, and stood, whipping around to face the direction of the voice. Break looked up slightly, because he knew that Rufus was at least a head taller than him.

"Leave…her…out of this!" he growled. Rufus chuckled.

"You're leaving for Belladonna after the holidays." Break's eye widened.

"No, I'm not."

"You are, unless you would rather me take that girl into custody." Break gripped the left side of his face, and made sure his chair was still in the same position, before sitting down. His breathing became a little heavier as thoughts an memories whirred in his mind. Belladonna was a peaceful town, his home town. It was where he had happily served the Sinclairs, and where he had met Quilla. It was also where he had wreaked havoc upon innocent citizens in the cover of the night. It was the place he had vowed never to return to. "Well Hatter?" Break clenched his fists for a moment, then loosened his muscles, sighing.

"Very well, I'll go, but you will not lay a hand on Tranquilla." Rufus laughed a little, and Break heard him open the door.

"Remember, after the holidays. Oh, and only Reim may accompany you." Break got up, and wobbled a little bit, but steadied himself on the chair. He walked past Rufus, and was joined by Reim outside the door. "I'm glad you saw It my way Xerxes."

"Go to hell," Break muttered. Reim didn't dare speak with him, so the ride back was quiet. They got back, and Break mumbled a quick goodbye to Reim, then went in.

"You're back! How did things go?" Not wanting to tell Quilla how distraught he was, he smiled, hiding behind his fools façade.

"I actually will be going. Now that Duke Barma has explained the details of the case, it sounds rather interesting," he lied.

"Oh, when are you leaving?"

"After the holidays. Don't worry, I will be back in time," Break assured her. She was silent for a moment, which worried him.

"Is something wrong?" Break shook his head, slightly surprised.

"Of course not, everything is absolutely fantastic!" he said, and just to convince her that he was fine, he asked, "Now, is there any cake out?" She just laughed a little.

"Yes, there's cake out, come on." Break followed the sound of her footsteps, still not completely relieved. He knew she was going to find out how unsettled he was eventually.