|The Circus|

Madeleine felt just about ready to scream. Any moment now she would open up her mouth and just let out a huge scream to relieve her tension at everything going wrong. How was it humanly possible for things to become so frustrating. Though of course the sources of her frustration were anything but human.

First there had been Sebastian. Of course he always was a nuisance, but this time he had managed to ambush her. The day after the snake incident she had thought to be more subtle in her approach. She had used a teensy bit of glamour magic on Joker, just enough so that he wouldn't see the need to send other people to accompany her through the circus. With the way it had gone so easily, she suspected the man already wanted to see her as a friend.

Of course him saying that he didn't need anyone accompanying her wasn't the same as saying nobody should accompany her. She only been in for five minutes before Dagger found her. He'd been totally trusting of her since Joker had said she didn't need anyone look out for her. Sadly he had also taken that as sign that she in fact was completely okay to approach as a friend. With Dagger, that meant helping him out with training and listening to long lists about what he was planning to do if he ever got a date with Beast.

Beast had been less happy with Joker taking a liking to her, as that was how everyone in the circus choose to explain the sudden change in directions. After some glares that could rival those of the tiger, Beast had decided to set Snake on her. Rumors of her fainting had spread through the camp after all, leaving Madeleine between Dagger and Snake. One of them nearly talked her ear of, while the other one just threw her glances with such a quiet that the air might as well have shattered.

At the moment she had decided she could bear no more and would be better off searching for Ciel someone tapped her on the side of the head, leaving her slightly dizzy.
'I would like to have a word with Madeleine, if that's okay for you all?' Sebastian had asked with a dazzling smile.

Dagger at once got up, before leaning over to grab Snake by an arm. 'Of course Black! Ye can talk to yer girl as often as ye want.' Those words had left her sputtering in denial, leading Dagger to think she was just being bashful.

With a furious glare she had watched the two men walk away, leaving her alone with her tormenter. Sebastian wasted no time, grabbing her by the chin with a gloved hand. He looked at her with a sly smile that could be explained as predatorial.
'Madeleine, you have been disobeying your master.' He announced softly. He was bending over her in an intimate manner, strengthening the message he had sent out to the circus folk.

'As I repeated, Ciel never said anything about me not being allowed to come here.' she replied, trying to shy away from him. That was once again easier said than done. Her eyes could see nothing but Sebastian. He chuckled, his warm breath stroking her skin.

'I wasn't talking about the brat.' He clarified, slowly. 'I told you the second lesson was that you should learn to trust me. Is this going to be the time that your will is going to prove too much for my… gentle tutoring?'

She wished he wouldn't look at her in that way. It made her knees go weak, and she was suddenly glad that she was sitting down at the moment. 'I didn't disobey. It's more of a competition. I want to prove I'm useful as well.' She kept her sentences short, looking around to see if someone was looking at them.

Sebastian didn't bother with whispering, knowing well enough that few people would come to bother him. It had been easy enough, dropping a few hints about the beautiful woman that he would be leaving behind in the mansion his master owned. Not one word of that sentence had been a lie. 'A competition?' he smiled, the smile he showed rarely to anyone, because it revealed his true nature all too well. 'Of course. A competition in which there is nothing for you to gain.'

His hand traveled down from her chin, over the skin of her neck, towards her collar bones. With his free hand he took her hand in his, running his fingers up until they rested on her arm. 'Very much like the competition you imagine to have going on with that ringleader.'

At that moment she looked up in surprise. 'Joker?' She couldn't imagine what the demon was talking about.

'Him.' Sebastian agreed, something that sounded dangerously like a growl in the word. 'If you think dallying around with him will lead you to the information you seek, you are sorely mistaken.'
He tapped a finger on the place his mark was located, looking her straight into the eyes. 'I have marked you as my property. If another, no matter who, would even dream about attempting to claim you, I will see myself forced to etch my possession of you into your skin. I will make sure nobody else will ever seize the illusion that you could belong to anyone but me.'

He let go of her, sending her a cold smile. Walking backwards he had observed her coldly. Madeleine had shivered a long time after that encounter, thinking about what he had said. Surely he didn't entertain the thought that she would be wearing this mark any longer than necessary? When she had heard the remark 'young love' from someone walking by she had been ready to march Sebastian straight back to hell, using his own damned demonic powers if need be.

That had been problem one. Right now she was faced with problem two, named William T. Spears. She'd come upon the Shinigami quite unexpectedly, just as she turned around a corner in the hope of being able to get some real research done.

The man shoved his glasses higher, looking at her in a way that she couldn't quite place. 'Miss Phantomhive.' He said, looking at her down his nose.

That attitude immediately got on her nervers. It was bad enough that a demon was constantly harassing her, she would not be looked down upon by a god of death. Especially not since William's department was under the direct supervision of Lord Michael.

'Spears.' She replied coolly. The silence between them continued for a few seconds, as he waited for her to say something. Finally she couldn't take it anymore, throwing her arms over one another. As she tapped her foot, she posed her question.
'Well, what in the name of the seven hells are you doing here?' she demanded. Immediately she regretted her foul mouth. Spears was working for the same division as she was after all. What if he told other people about her talking like that?

He let out a sigh, looking at her like she had just brought him seven reports that were due the previous week. 'Honestly, now you're here too. It's bad enough I have to deal with that obnoxious beast…' now there was an obvious mention of Sebastian, though that sort of name-calling stung her a little bit. '… and now I have one of my supposed superiors in the field as well.'
He looked at her, as if deciding if he should tell her or not. Finally he shrugged. 'I already told that thing, so I might as well inform you as well. There will be a large harvest of souls soon. The circumstances are vague this time, so I was assigned here because for some reason this circus will play a hand in it. There are more Shinigami stationed around, though of course that is classified.'

Madeleine kept glaring at him, puffing up her cheeks. Now here was some interesting info, and Sebastian had tried to keep it from her! 'What do you mean, circumstances are vague this time? I thought the Shinigami would be informed about everything when they have to reap souls.'

William glared at her. 'I shouldn't be discussing this with you. When I reported to Lord Michael that I had come across you, he made very clear that you were in some unsavory business. He also urged me to tell you that you ought to return back home as soon as possible.' He nodded at her, as if saying he trusted she would obey those orders immediately.

'As if! My place is here right now, and Lord Michael can stuff his feathers where the sun doesn't shine if he thinks I belong anywhere else.' Crap, another slip of the tongue. At this rate the first thing the inhabitants of the Upper Realm would do when she got back was wash out her mouth with soap. It was because of Sebastian. Most of the time he frustrated her so badly that she only managed to come up with name-calling later on. 'Now, answer the question.'

The reaper eyed her for a long time, as if he were trying to peer to her soul. Madeleine had to fight the urge to cover up the hidden mark on her chest. As far as she knew, Shinigami didn't possess the ability to look through clothing, so she supposed she was safe on that department.

'It would seem that there is one or more people involved whose existence is targeted by higher powers.' He finally told her. When she just stared at him, waiting for more, he shrugged. 'That's all I can say about this kind of circumstance. Maybe some of the older reapers may have more information for you, but I can't be bothered to dig through the archives right now. Maybe if people would stop dying all the time and think about the trouble they cause for others when they do so…'

'Well, at least tell me if they're going to survive or not.' Madeline tried to encourage him. William shook his head.

'That also is information we cannot discern. Like I said, everything is so vague we don't even have a location yet. Light knows we already have enough work to do without this type of guessing where we need to run to first.' Well, at least that was typically Spears. The man had to make sure the souls of the dead actually went to the afterlife and all he could do was whine about how much work it created for him.

A thought struck though her head, sending a shiver through her spine. 'Grell isn't one of those Shinigamei around here, is he?' If the bloody redhead saw Sebastian harassing her he would try to kill her, trying to claim she was leading on his 'Sebby'.

Even William didn't manage to suppress a shudder when it came to that subject. 'That… disciple of ours has been sent for some more training. It will depend on how well he performs when and if he is allowed to return to us.'

Madeleine let out a sigh of relief. 'Say, Spears…' she started. During the conversation she had started to gain the bud of a plan. 'I have a proposal for you.'

The tall man looked around him, clearly not interested in any deal she had to cut with him. 'From what I have heard, you are somewhat of an outcast from the angelic society at the moment. What could you possibly have to offer me?'

'Something very simple. If you do your best to give me any information regarding me and my family, I'll do my best to make sure as few souls as possible escape from the current mission you're on.' If there was any sort of deal sure to interest him, it was a deal to lighten his work load.

'This mission alone, in return for anything I can find. Not enough.' He said, waving his hand in an attempt to dismiss her.

Madeleine huffed, placing her feet firmly on the ground. 'Fine then. Apart from saving as many souls as possible during this assignment, I'll also take on the paperwork you're unable to do during this period.'

Now this managed to get his attention. He took of his glasses, cleaning them. His ghostly green eyes scanned the people of the circus, as if he was trying to gauge who she would be protecting soon enough. 'This assignment's paperwork, and any paperwork that will be arising that has anything to do with your family. Either caused by, or having relation to.'

Madeleine whistled. That was a lot of paperwork. Not that she had much to do at the moment, but it would really cut into her free time when they got back at the mansion. It was her turn to look around, weighing her options. It was a lot of paperwork. But then again, she had a chance of gaining some pretty valuable information.
'Fine.' She said, holding out her hand to the reaper. 'But no word of this to anyone else, got it?'

William grabbed her hand, shaking it firmly. 'By the Light, no word of this will pass my lips. You can expect the first load of paperwork to be delivered this evening.'

'Shee, thanks…' she gave him back the same kind of smile that said 'I don't like working with you, but if this gets me closer to my goal I will.'

|Later|

And so Madeleine found herself fuming quite a bit. Between the demon and the reaper, she felt like she was just about ready to explode. She didn't know what Sebastian meant with his comments about Joker, and she thought that Spears might decide to grow a feeling of moral obligations one day and tell other angels where they could find her.

'Ah, miss maid, there ye are.' Joker's voice sounded from beneath her. She looked down from the stack of wood she had decided to brood on for a while, to see his brilliant green eyes staring up at her with a smile.

'Sir Joker.' She replied. Even without the bit of glamour she had used on her, he had been kind to her. And it was obvious he treasured family as much as she did. If he proved to be innocent, perhaps they could even become friends. After she had become accustomed to the way he dressed, without any regard which colour matched which. 'Is there something you needed from me?'

'Well, training 's just about over, so if ye'd like ye could visit yer nephew.' He told her. When she crinkled her nose in doubt he laughed at her. 'No need to worry so. He's yer precious nephew, even if he says he doesn't wanna be mommied all the time.'

She looked down at him with a scowl. 'So that's what you think I've been doing? Mothering him?' she kept up her scowl for a few seconds longer, before she was finally swayed by the way he kept smiling up at her.
'Fine… I suppose I can be a bit motherly around him.' She admitted. Climbing down the stack was easy enough, since she had to make sure she didn't climb anywhere she wasn't sure an ordinary mortal could go.

Joker offered her his arm, in the same playful nature he always did. As they walked they managed to gather Peter and Wendy as well. The two looked up at them with mischievous glances, but at least they didn't try to lift her skirt like last time.

'Smiles! I brought yer aunt, so ye can take a break now!' Joker announced, presenting Madeleine to her nephew as if he was in a ballroom, showing of a fresh-faced debutante. The way Ciel looked at her, it was obvious he at the least hadn't been aware of her presence in the circus in the past few days.

She dropped to one knee in front of the boy, smiling broadly at him. Forced by the looks of everyone around them he gave her a hug. As the boy moved closer to her, Peter and Wendy made a show of being disgusted by the display of public affection. This caused Joker to chase after the pair, to give them a taste of the same medicine.

'Madeleine. What are you doing here?' Ciel asked her with the fake smile he was forced to wear at the circus.

She didn't say anything at first, starting to rub a spot of dirt away from his nose. 'Getting so dirty. The first thing you're going to do when you get home is take a nice long bath. Oh fine.' She conceded after a dirty look from the young boy. 'I ran into Spears an hour or so ago. I don't know what Sebastian told you, but he told me there's going to be a lot of people dying pretty soon.'

From a distance Sebastian watched as Madeleine started to tidy up the brat she insisted on protecting. He had also seen the gaudy way in which Joker had taken her inside, smiling and chatting her up the entire way they had been walking. Rationally speaking he knew there was no way Madeleine was encouraging the man. Even if she had been smart enough to know that a woman could persuade a man to do her bidding that way if given the talent, he was fairly certain she lacked the will to do it.
If she had completed her training as an angel, there was no way she would have hesitated a second to do what was necessary to further the mission. Though in that instance, she wouldn't have been the delicious Madeleine he had been able to claim.

And he didn't feel like being rational when people came too close to his personal property. There was a reason he had marked her as his own. And if anyone came too damn near her, he would make sure they would regret it.