'I'm going to die of boredom. I'm going to die of boredom. I'm going to die of boredom…'

Ciel was yet again reduced to sitting and watching Sebastian watch the television after he ate his dinner. As much as Sebastian appeared to enjoy cooking, he had ordered take-out tonight. Ciel had about had a seizure when the delivery man came to the door. His nerves had been jumpy all afternoon after meeting Laurence on the stairs. He had been afraid that any second there would be a knock on the door and someone from a Shelter would be there, having been tipped off by the strange violinist.

But as the hours had passed without any visitors Ciel calmed down enough to be bored when Sebastian wasn't playing with him. Now he just found himself yawning repeatedly even though he wasn't really that tired.

However, his boredom was erased in the last way he had expected. The knock on the door did come. It was almost eleven and Ciel felt his heart constrict. Without thinking twice, he sped to the other end of the room, hiding beneath the long curtain that hung from his favorite window.

"Who on earth could be..?" Sebastian muttered, as he muted the television and went to the door. Ciel was making a plan in his head fast. If it was someone from a Shelter he would sneak around to the door and wait until they came looking for him. Then he would make a run for it.

Sebastian opened the door, and Ciel was indeed seized with terror when he heard Laurence's voice.

"Sebastian, I'm so sorry to bother you. This is important."

"Good Lord!" Sebastian exclaimed, "What-."

"Please let me bring him in?"

"Yes, yes, of course."

It was a policeman, Ciel was sure of it. They were bringing him in to search for Ciel and take him away. He should never have let his guard down on the stairs!

'Curse you, Laurence you silver-haired freak!' He thought to himself, 'If I could I'd find a way to pay you back for this...'

"You can just lay him there on the sofa." Sebastian was saying.

"Thank you, he's been bumping around in the back seat of my car for the last twenty minutes."

Ciel was confused. That definitely didn't sound like they were talking about a policeman.

"Who on earth is he?" Sebastian was asking.

"A runaway. We found him out in the country on our way back to the city."

Ciel's furry little jaw dropped. He knew that voice. But what was he doing…here?

"You found him?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes, on the side of the road. Poor thing, I thought he was dead, but then he opened those pretty blue eyes and we saw that he still lived!"

No doubt about it. That was Grell. Ciel clamped his eyes shut as if he could make sense of this bizarre turn of events. What the crap was even going on? How was Grell in Sebastian's apartment? Had Grell sold him out somehow? He'd never seemed the sort to do that, and there had been plenty of opportunity for him to do that before had he wanted to.

"Sebastian, I was wondering if you could call that friend of yours." Laurence was saying.

"On it." Sebastian replied. "Just let me get my phone."

Sebastian's footsteps fell close to where Ciel was hiding and he shivered a bit as the movement caused a gust of air under the curtain next to him.

"Sebastian's friend runs one of the best Shelters around here." Laurence said, presumably to Grell, "I've actually gone and taken a look before. That's the way it needs to be done. All kindness and good care."

"Well, that's exactly what this little one needs."

Sebastian's voice carried from the other side of the room as he contacted Bard.

"Hello, Bard? Yes….I know it's late, but a neighbor of mine just found a young Leonard runaway in the country. He looks like he's been beaten very badly…" There was a pause before Sebastian continued, "Can we bring him to Angel Wing, then?" Another pause. "Thank you so much, Bard. We'll wait for you."

There was a slight beep as Sebastian ended the call, and then his footsteps came closer.

"Bard says he'll come over to get him. He'll have the Shelter doctor fix him up and they'll set him up in a room."

"Thank you, Sebastian." Laurence said, sincerely.

"Don't thank me; Bard's the one who does the saving. For now, though, I don't think it would hurt to at least try and warm him up a bit. Grab those blankets and we'll wrap him up."

Ciel's curiosity was getting the better of him. He peeked out from behind the curtain. The sofa was at such an angle that he couldn't exactly see who they were talking about. He had to creep out further into the room. Thankfully they were too busy with this runaway to notice him.

He leapt onto the entertainment center where his vantage was much better. The television was still on even though it was muted, and so different lights and colors kept flashing behind him, reflecting on the shiny surface of the shelf. Sebastian, Laurence, and Grell were gathered around the form of a young blond Leonard male lying on the sofa. His face was ashen white where it was not purple or red with bruises. Ciel had never seen injuries like this in person, and he felt shivers creep along his spine at the sight of them.

The men were wrapping the boy in blankets and attempting to make him more comfortable. After a few moments there was no more they could do, and they all drew back to look at him.

"Good God," Sebastian said suddenly, "I…I know this boy…"

"You do? Where from?" Grell asked.

'Yea!?' Ciel thought.

"The man who's tried to merge his company with mine for the past three years…this Leonard belongs to him. Claude brought him to my office time after time when he came to meet with me."

Sebastian's face turned grim, and Ciel felt frightened just looking at it. If looks could kill, the boy's master, this Claude, would be dead from one glance at Sebastian's scowl.

"I always had a suspicion that he punished him somehow, but I never saw any bruises on him. Of course, I never got close enough." Sebastian said, reaching out and running the back of his fingers along the unmarred side of Alois' face. Ciel bristled a little, and he didn't know why.

"So you know who did this then?" Laurence asked.

"I know exactly who did this. I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him, too." Sebastian said in a harsh whisper. "Alois was always fearful around him, and that kind of fear doesn't come from nowhere."

"His name is Alois, then?"

"Yes. He really is a beautiful lad, which is why I suspect Claude adopted him in the first place." There was a pause as they all looked at Alois, and Ciel was still silently griping that Sebastian had called him 'beautiful' when he certainly didn't look it now.

"Well, Laurence," Sebastian said finally in a lighter tone, turning to Grell. "Who have we here?"

"Oh, how rude of me. Sebastian, I'd like you to meet my kid brother, Grell."

Ciel's jaw dropped again, despite the close proximity of the men. Grell was this nutcase Laurence's brother?! What kind of freak show had this night landed him in? Had he fallen asleep after eating his dinner and the medicine was giving him a weird dream? It had to be. But he knew that wasn't the case.

"So pleased to meet you, Sebasti~an." Grell said, shaking Sebastian's hand and holding it for what Ciel observed to be longer than normal once the shake was done. It was classic to the man.

' He'll be drooling all over Sebastian like a hound after a hare.' Ciel thought, almost grinning, though he was repulsed.

"Pleased to meet you too," Sebastian echoed, politely extracting his hand. "Though I wish we had met under better circumstances."

"These are fine circumstances, though, don't you think?" Grell asked, gesturing to the boy on the sofa. "We are all endeavoring to save this poor young one from his abusive past from which he is running. What a better way to form a bond?"

He batted his eyes slightly at Sebastian, and Ciel saw Laurence grinning.

"That's one way to look at it." Sebastian said, and he moved unexpectedly, turning toward Ciel and spotting him as if he had known he was there.

"Ah, Cinder's wondering what all the commotion is about and why he's not the center of attention!" He said, picking him off the shelf before Ciel could decide whether to let him. Sebastian held him against his chest like he normally did, petting his head with affection.

"I took in this little fellow just a short while ago. I suppose I have a heart for rescue."

Now it was Grell's jaw that dropped, very obviously and unavoidably. Ciel glared daggers at him, demanding that he adjust his expression, but he didn't. Didn't the man realize that he could give him away?

"Is everything alright?" Sebastian asked as Grell continued to stare open-mouthed at Ciel as though he could not believe his eyes.

"My little brother loves cats." Laurence chimed in, sounding delightedly entertained, "Ah, you see, Grell, that's the cat I was telling you about."

'Sebastian isn't stupid enough, even around me, to buy that.' Ciel thought. 'I'm finished. This is it. He's going to find out.'

"Oh, are you making my little Cinder famous now?" Sebastian replied cheerfully, stoking his head with pride.

Ciel allowed himself the privilege of rolling his eyes.

'This man is unbelievable.'