A/N- Ahhh sorry about the wait! I tried to submit it last night and it didn't work and this morning and still nothing...

But then it worked! Yay!

You'll be happy to know that I passed that project with flying colors and now I have much more free time.

Prepare yourself- this chapter is quite interesting.

Let's try to get to 100 reviews, okay?

It was like a scene out of a futuristic novel.

The group of humans attending Druitt's ball was unusual, to say the least. A myriad of differently colored hair and wigs, paired with elaborate costumes based on different traditions and pop culture.

Yet, Sebastian was still embarrassed to be in this outfit, despite it being a rather 'normal' outfit, compared to some of the other humans. He stalled, hesitant to leave the vicinity of the car.

"Come on, Sebastian. We need to get going."

The demon didn't respond.

"Seriously, you don't look out of place at all. Let's go."

There was a huge sigh and Sebastian reluctantly unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door.

"There we go." Ciel handed his keys over to the valet and took Sebastian's hand, eyeing him over once more. Layers of white fabric cascaded down from his waist over his long legs. Sebastian pulled at his sleeves, adjusting his cuffs. He let out a hefty sigh.

"Goodness. You're acting rather like a child."

Ciel tugged the demon along, ignoring the lingering glances they received. He was dressed the stark opposite of Sebastian, all in black ruffles down his back that nearly touched the ground. In their unoccupied hands were two masks, one white, one black, both feathered.

"Grell should be around here." Crimson eyes darted across the many humans crossing their path, searching for the Shinigami.

Ciel squinted, a feathered eyepatch firmly affixed across his face. "I don't see him. Should we text him?"

"Perhaps. He might be closer to the main event, however."

They were closer to the mansion now, colored lights dancing over the front of the building. Leaning against one of the pillars was an unhappy Grim Reaper with crimson red hair, like fresh blood, vivid against a flowing white dress.

"Ah," Sebastian breathed. "I've spotted him."

Ciel frowned. "You don't need to sound so entranced."

Sebastian laughed. "Trust me, I'm not. Though, like you said, he is impressive in a dress."

Grell saw them as well and ran over, white fabric rustling loudly. His dress was cut in a more lady-like fashion than Sebastian's, a slit running up the side of his right leg.

"Hi..." he drawled, eyeing Sebastian, "now this is the first time I've seen you dressed in this manner…"

Before Sebastian could react, there was a flash of an led light from Grell's phone.

"Mm! Oh, so handsome!"

Sebastian sighed, pursing his lips with annoyance. It couldn't be helped. Grell was still annoying.

"That's my line." Ciel gave a sniff of indignation. "Anyway, have you spotted anyone suspicious?"

He gave a shrug. "Not especially. Just your normal range of human oddities. The Viscount should be inside."

"Viscount?" asked Ciel, confused.

"Another reincarnation, love. It's simpler for us to refer to their original beings."

Ciel shrugged. "Well, as long as I know who you're talking about, it's fine."

"Shall we go?"

Ciel and Grell nodded and followed Sebastian into the building. The demon looked around with interest. It was certainly different from the balls held back in the Victorian era, the music being electronic, rather than an orchestra. The dim room was pierced through by flashing lights in different colors, illuminating humans dancing in a more modern style than he really preferred.

Of course, what kind of facade of a human would he be if he couldn't excel perfectly in all manners of dance?

Ciel cracked his knuckles. "Let's get this started. Sebastian, you will approach Druitt and follow him if he offers you anything. Grell and I will follow you once something happens. Grell, please keep an eye out for your impostor. If I see Angelina, I will follow her." He patted his hip, an odd bulge where his holstered handgun rested. "I'm armed, so please don't concern yourselves too much with my well-being."

The CEO noticed an odd look between the two supernatural beings and wondered what they were thinking of. It didn't matter, but it was odd.

"That's fine."

Grell muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like 'brat' and Ciel tactfully ignored him.

"There he is now." Ciel nodded his head towards a blond man dressed in an elaborate Victorian costume. He was laughing, talking to two other elaborately dressed humans, with a glass of white wine clasped in his fingers.

"I will take my leave then." Sebastian gave a slight bow and walked off in the direction of Druitt.

"That leaves the two of us, then." Ciel noticed that Grell seemed distracted and wasn't quite speaking to him. "Might be nice to catch up, Earl."

Ah, so that's how it was. Ciel was slightly bothered by the disconnected conversation, but it would be interesting to learn more about Grell and, in turn, the Earl Phantomhive. So, he stayed quite and listened as they walked around the room, figuring that the Earl would do all the talking.

"Sebastian and I?" Grell snickered, showing sharp, white teeth. "You certainly don't waste time. Sebastian was broken upon your death, no soul, no meal, nothing. It was pathetic, really. I took pity on him and took him in. And you can imagine what happened... After all, he is so handsome." He sighed dreamily. "No, I'm not sorry."

There was a pause and Grell frowned. "I suppose I could. It was quite incredible when the humans figured out how to do that surgery without failing. But now, well it's more comfortable, I guess. Sebastian was forced to accept me, and William got… jealous of that, I suppose. I can't see it being anything other than how it is now. I'm quite satisfied." He shrugged. "We've all mellowed down. That's what time does. It's kind of… melancholy, though."

Ciel directed his attention back towards Druitt, squinting his good eye to see how Sebastian was fairing.

As soon as Sebastian had approached the Viscount, his attention had turned.

Good.

"Oh, a raven, eh? How handsome…" The Viscount smirked at Sebastian over the edge of his wine glass.

"It's rather boring here, don't you think? Have you anything more… interesting?"

Sebastian let the words hang on the air, enticing the blond. This was irritating and the demon wanted it over quickly. Find the killer, move on. He was more than ready to begin something more… more important.

"I suppose." Druitt narrowed his eyes. "Really, I prefer robins, but I suppose you'll have to do for now."

Ciel watched Sebastian follow Druitt through a doorway and smiled. It seemed that things were going well.

"Hey, hello? Ciel, you aren't listening to me."

"Huh?" Ciel turned to face the red-head and was promptly knocked to the ground by a blur of white. His head hit the marble floor with a sicking crack and Ciel groaned at the sickening sound, feeling blood run down through his hair and down his neck. Humans began to crowd around him, his vision blurring the faces, but it was clear enough to watch Grell pick up a twisted silver dagger. Ciel gasped with the realization that it would have pierced his head easily, if he hadn't be knocked out of the way.

Who was after his life?

At this point, everything faded to black.

Sebastian followed Druitt through the door into a brightly lit room, filled with florescent lights. It was sterile, like a hospital, and he pressed a gloved hand to his nose as the strong stench of disinfectant filled the air.

"Like I said, I'm not a fan of ravens. But I have someone who's interested."

White hair. A dominantrix-esque outfit. Black leather. A whip at her hip. Sebastian's eyes widened as he met her violet gaze. This was Angela, a rather, well, questionable angel.

"I'll take it from here." She grinned, showing overly white teeth. "Thank you for finding him."

"Simple." He took a sip of his wine and exited the room, the door closing with a final click.

"What are your intentions, angel?"

"Oh, just the desire for a little punishment, scum." Sebastian winced as his hair was grabbed, the angel dragging him into yet another room, this one with manacles set into the wall. She was quick to close them around his wrists, stepping back to eye the demon with a satisfied smirk.

"Disgusting." Angela ran her fingers along the length of the whip, testing the leather.

"I rather think that you shouldn't have the right to say that. A demon is better than you."

"Oh, Sebastian Michaelis, the odd case." The leather tip kissed his face, curving down his neck, leaving a thin trail of black blood behind. "Loved by everyone, regardless of your actions. Even Shinigami cannot seem to hate you. Why is that?"

Sebastian grunted as the whip split his clothing, a harsh cut to his skin.

"A demon! and an ancient one to boot! You should be despised by anyone but your own kind! And fraternizing with a human in that manner? Sickening!"

The next cut was vertical and he clenched his teeth, suppressing a scream that escaped as a mere hiss, the holy symbol of a cross burning his skin.

"I should not call you an angel. I would not call you anything, a demon, a human. You have no place, anywhere."

She licked a drop of Sebastian's blood off her face. "No place? You are one to speak."

"I am accepted, no more." He gritted his teeth, gasping. His skin was burning around the deep cut. Angela was entirely insane. And why was she here? It didn't make any sense.

"You are…

Unclean!

Unwanted!

Unnecessary!"

Each word was punctuated by a series of lashes, forming more crosses against his skin. The contract on his hand burned. How was Ciel in trouble as well? Sebastian tested the manacles, seeing if he could pull them out of the wall.

The whip hit his hands, then his face, and, this time, he did scream, his body on fire.

"You shall be cleansed!"

Ciel woke up in a stark white room. He discovered that he was lying on a table similar to a one in a stereotypical hospital.

"Ugh." He rubbed his head and glanced around the room to find Grell pacing. "Hey, where are we?"

"Still in Druitt's mansion. You passed out and Ash carried you here." Grell gestured at another man sitting in the room, with white hair and violet eyes. He was dressed in a simple white suit and had a rather ethereal glow about him.

"Were you the one who knocked me down?"

"My apologies, but I did save your life." He narrowed his eyes. "There's a rogue angel here."

"Are they affiliated with Claude?" Ciel frowned. That was most likely it. It seemed that Claude and Alois would go to any end to fuck with him.

"I'm not positive. It's likely, however, since she had a demonic weapon in her possession."

"This?" Grell waved the silver dagger.

"Yes. Claude Faustus might be providing her with the weapons. I'll have to confiscate them away from her. Perhaps Sebastian can return them to their proper place in Hell."

"Would it be better to destroy them?"

Ash shook his head. "No. You Grim Reapers have the majority of them, right? That should be the last."

"We do. That would be simple to accomplish, to put things back in their proper place." Grell grinned.

Ciel rubbed at his eyepatch, his eye itching, and pulled his hand away with a horrified look, his hand stained with sticky, thick liquid. Ash approached him with a frown.

"May I?"

Ciel nodded and let Ash lift his eyepatch. A white square of fabric dabbed at his eye, coming away crimson.

"It seems that Sebastian is in quite a bit of trouble. How kind, though, he's suppressing the pain so that it doesn't transfer over to you."

"How?" Ciel clenched his fists. Who would dare to harm a demon, his demon?

"It must be Angela."

Grell enthusiastically pulled the cord of his crimson chainsaw (which had materialized out of nowhere) and exclaimed, "Well, let's go get him!"

"Of course." Ash nodded. "Why don't you start searching and we'll catch up to you? I'd like to attend to Mr Phantomhive's injuries."

His words fell on empty ears, Grell having already left with an exclamation of, "Bassy! I'm coming for you!"

Ash sighed and rummaged around in the cabinets above a metal sink, looking for cloth and disinfectant.

"Grell is… strange." Ciel commented.

"Certainly. Most of the Shinigami have their own quirks but Grell certainly takes the cake." Ash laughed, an oddly melodic sound. "He's more than competent, though." The angel returned with some supplies. "Now, if you don't mind, please bow your head."

Ciel did as he was told, letting Ash clean the wound on his skull and the blood off of his neck. It stung and was cold, but Ash's motions were kind, and oddly reminiscent of Sebastian.

"Ah, it's not as deep as I thought. That's some relief." A white-gloved hand pressed under his chin, forcing Ciel to look up. "Now then, for your eye. If you don't mind, I will dispose of your eyepatch. You might be able to assist Sebastian better if his mark is visible."

The boy nodded. "That's fine."

Ash continued to wipe at his face, cleaning the blood off his eye. The damp cloth was moved and Ciel opened his eyes, blinking. Back to 'normal'.

"What's that look?" Ash had a faint sort of sad smile on his face. Silky material rubbed against his skin as Ash pushed Ciel's bangs out of his face to kiss his forehead. Ciel tried not to flinch at the sudden contact and promptly exclaimed, "What are you doing?"

"My apologies." Ash pulled away, slowly. "I don't like seeing you hurt."

"What do you mean? Have you seen me hurt before?"

Ash lifted Ciel off the table and set him gently on the ground, motioning for the boy to follow him. "Well, let's think of it this way. You have a demon chained to you. Now, what's opposite of a demon?"

"An angel?"

Ciel received a brilliant smile, "Good! Now, if Sebastian must protect you, then I must do the same. Nothing more. Now, let's go rescue him."

The CEO trailed after the angel, pondering the information he just had gained. So, not only did he have a demon chained to him, but also an angel.

"I prefer the term 'guardian'."

A/N- W-what? Ash is more than a deus ex machina? Uh, yeah, he is.
Poor Sebastian.

Well then, let's try to get too 100 reviews okay? I really want to know your reactions to this chapter.

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