The Demon, Uncollared

He had lost all track of time. Its passing was something that faded in and out of his awareness, but trapped here as he was, it was something he had tried to keep track of.

He was positive that after a certain amount of time, he would go insane. A thousand factors could drive him there, and many were compounding in his little cell: hunger, boredom, frustration...

The reapers had discovered a little 'game' they enjoyed; since it had begun, he had taken to staying in the far corners of the room. While it made their game more difficult, it certainly didn't make it unplayable. The scythes the reapers carried could only extend in a straight line, but he had personally seen them stretch further distances than across his cell. The strikes left him ultimately bare-chested, the cloth shredded and torn from his torso; many of the feathers in the once-lustrous mantle were either missing or truncated by strikes he'd dodged. Despite the state of his corporeal body, there remained in his eyes a burning hatred and bloodlust that was unmatched. They softened only when he thought of Grell, and even then they hardened moments later as that thought gave way to what kind of treatment he was receiving at their hands. He could only imagine what it did to the poor man...

Was the insanity setting in already? He could swear he'd just caught Grell's scent, faint but close. No; it should have been accompanied by the sounds of his heeled boots on the stone walkway...thinking of him must have triggered some memory.

But no...the scent was growing stronger.

He shook his head. The madness was setting in, it had to be. He was beginning to hallucinate-

"...Why do you sit there-?"

The panicked whisper that reached his ears made him press his hands to the sides of his head, trying to block out the phantom voice-

A feather-light touch on his shoulder. He couldn't have been imagining that.

"...Sebastian..."

He whirled, grabbing the bars and flinching back with a hiss as they burned his hands-but this couldn't be a hallucination, not so complete, not so real...the details-a new scar on Grell's cheek, the bruises he shouldn't have known about on his arms...

"Grell-?"

"Why do you sit against the bars-? Look what they've done to your back-!"

Even after all he'd apparently been through, his first thought was for him...

The reaper knelt before the bars, reaching his arm through and touching his cheek.

"...Don't...hurt yourself..."

He couldn't respond. He couldn't find anything to say; the tears he had imagined were making the green eyes that he hadn't met in so long sparkle...

"Oh god, don't cry..."

The sigh had escaped his lips before he could think about it, and he carefully snaked his own arm through the thin gap between the bars and wiped the tears off his cheeks. Grell nuzzled his cheek into the demon's touch, and as the hand drew away from his own face, Sebastian found himself wishing he'd done the same.

"I'm so sorry they're doing this to you..."

"Never mind me-! What are they doing to you...?" His thumb passed over the scar on his cheek. Grell pulled back, clapping a hand over the place.

"N-nothing-!"

"Grell." Sebastian's voice was soft and imploring. "Do you think I'm foolish enough to think you did that to yourself...? I know how careful you are about..."

"I-it's nothing, don't worry about me...!" He whimpered. Sebastian sighed, reaching to hold one of the bars again, stopping himself just in time as Grell gasped. He clenched his teeth against a string of profanity that rose to his lips.

"...Come closer," He eventually says. Grell furtively looked up and down the hall, nervously edging closer.

"I shouldn't be here, I-I can't stay long-!"

"I know, but please..."

He edged slightly closer again; Sebastian growled irritably, growing suddenly agitated.

"Damn it-! Grell, just-!"

He jerked back at the suddenly harsh words; panic flashed across Sebastian's face and he lunged forward, not realizing until the pain lanced through his body that he'd grabbed one of the bars, and the shoulder of the other, that he'd reached out to Grell with, was pressed between two; he jerks back with a cry, face contorted in pain.

"Sebastian-!"

Grell had done almost exactly what he had; he had grabbed a bar in each hand and pressed his face between them, and the iron caused him no pain. The demon looked up, moving toward the bars again, carefully reaching between them to touch Grell's face.

"...Don't mourn so for Romeo, Juliet..." He murmured, pressing a light kiss to the tip of his nose. "...I'll be fine..."

Best not to tell him of the consequences that would eventually arise from starvation; best not to mention that the scythes the reapers carried could reach to every corner of the room; best not to tell him that they took advantage of that fact, pausing just long enough to tear open his skin and create a wound that wouldn't heal for days...

"I...I have to go...they'll realize I'm gone soon..."

The reaper's voice was choked; tears leaked from his eyes again as he touched one of Sebastian's hands, wincing at the redness in the demon's palm from touching the metal.

"...Don't get in trouble..." He murmured. "Go, if you have to..."

Grell pressed a soft kiss into Sebastian's palm, folding his fingers over it.

"...Please...stop leaning against the bars..."

Sebastian gently pulled Grell's hand back through the bars and pressed it to his lips, then gently kissed the large bruise on his forearm, as well.

"...Keep yourself out of harm."

He was chewing on his lower lip, reluctant to leave, clinging to Sebastian's hand.

"Grell..."

"I want to help you...!" He whispered, squeezing the hand he had in his own. "I never wanted this to happen...!"

"I know. Grell, you have to go, if they catch you here-"

He stood, and Sebastian saw why he hadn't heard him approach; he was barefoot. Seeing as Grell had made no move to step away, he stood as well, and had to smile gently at the height difference between them. A few inches taller than Grell when the latter was in heels, the difference was augmented now by the absence of Grell's shoes and the heels on the demon's boots. He wished dearly that he could take Grell into his arms and feel the smaller man's head resting on his chest, his own face buried in the soft, crimson hair...but the stinging pains in his arms and back were a reminder of the iron bars that separated them.

"...How did you even get out-?"

"William left the door unlocked," Grell explained in a low voice. "He told me that they were getting ready to torture you and that if I didn't tell them how to undo the contract, they'd-!"

He was silenced by a finger pressed to his lips; his voice had risen as he'd spoken. After a tentative moment of silence, Sebastian's hand shifted, and his thumb ran lightly over the slightly chapped lips that had once been so full and soft.

"They've done nothing to me...beyond keeping me sedated," He lied, knowing full well the wounds on his chest told another story entirely. "But what about you-?"

"It's mostly just from when they caught us in that place," he replied truthfully. To his surprise, little harm had been done to him in the time they'd held him captive.

"You haven't been eating," Sebastian said. It wasn't a question; Grell's eyes had sunken and his cheeks hollowed; his complexion had taken on a pale grey pallor.

"Neither have you."

"That's different," he countered, but knew the argument was going nowhere. Grell shifted uneasily, and took the hand that still rested on his cheek.

"Sebastian...would it be...better...if you were on your own? If you weren't bound to me like this?"

The demon blinked, staring at the other man.

"What-?"

"It's because of the contract that you're stuck here, isn't it-?" The words fell from Grell's mouth almost too quickly to be legible as he continued. "You said when we made the contract that if we both agreed to it, we could decide to end it! So if you aren't bound to me anymore, and we end the contract, you can leave, can't you? You'll be safe and-"

"What about you, Grell. The won't be happy that you let a demon loose-!"

"Sebastian." Grell's hand tightened around his. "If we were to do this, you would have to swear one thing to me."

"...What."

"...You would leave right away. Go straight to...wherever you'll be safe, where they can't get you. Don't stay for a second longer than you have to-and didn't try to get any kind of revenge. Not for me, not for you-if you don't just...vanish...at least one of us will pay for it."

There was a little whimper in Grell's voice as he concluded, and his second hand clasped the one he was holding. Sebastian's free hand clenched, knowing the only real way out was just as Grell said. And as much as he loathed to admit it, he would only last so long against the throngs of reapers that worked in the building. But still, to let them get off with nothing as a punishment for what they'd done...

"Promise me, Sebastian. Or I...I won't agree to break it."

He had no other choice. It was do what Grell suggested or waste away in this iron holding pen.

"...I promise, Grell."

"Even after the contract's broken."

He replied with what he knew Grell wanted to hear.

"Especially after the contract breaks."

Grell still seemed hesitant, but after a moment, nodded.

"Then...how do we...?"

Sebastian snaked his left hand through the bars and pressed it to Grell's chest, the seal adorning it covering the one that had caused such trouble.

"Quite simply...much less painfully. Do you agree to revoke the terms of our contract and agree that it is now null and void?"

The blankness that had taken over Sebastian's eyes for all those night on the island had returned. Grell struggled to find words, but in the end could only nod.

"...Yes."

There was a faint pulling in his chest as the seal faded, and after a moment Sebastian withdrew his hand, leaving the reaper feeling somehow empty.

"...Simple as that."

It had been painfully simple. And yet, Grell found he wanted nothing more than to cry.

"Now...you're free to go. You can leave now...can't you?"

"Better yet..."

He seemed to waver for a moment, as if a wave of heat had passed in front of him; Grell blinked as he discovered that Sebastian miraculously stood on the other side of the bars.

"How-?"

"It isn't easy...I'm not entirely comfortable in this realm...but I had to..."

He tilted Grell's chin up and claimed his lips in a long-awaited and passionate kiss. Despite the danger of knowing that anyone could turn the corner and find them at any moment, Grell could do nothing but throw his arms around the demon's neck and hold him tightly, returning the kiss with equal fervor. He didn't allow himself to think that this was likely the last kiss they would ever share, instead focusing on how wonderful it felt to simply be held by Sebastian again.

"You...you can't stay..." He found himself murmuring. "They'll know something's...changed..."

Sebastian made a noise of acknowledgement, and yet neither of them pulled away. It wasn't until harsh footsteps rang down the corridor that they parted.

"Grell-!"

The reaper's head snapped up at Will's voice, harsh and urgent but quiet.

"Get away-!"

But the three all heard the others approaching; Grell's hands merely tightened around Sebastian's.

"Go-! Just remember what you promised me-"

"Grell-"

"Go, Sebastian-!"

"I-!"

"Now! Sebastian, that's an o-"

He didn't want to hear the last word of Grell's sentence, despite the fact that the contract had already broken, and that it meant nothing. He stepped back, releasing Grell's hands and vanishing.

In the last moments before he truly departed, Grell's head turned, his eyes widening in panic; a blur of metal, and the word on his lips was never completed. A gout of crimson sprayed from the reaper's neck-but try as he might to return and defend the redhead, he was committed to his action, and could not re-enter their realm of his own volition.