Song Title: In the Middle of the Night by Within Temptation

While his lover was resting in the safety of his room aboard the Draugen, Berwald had the opportunity to sneak into town to a bathhouse in an attempt to wash the scent of his late customer and the shame that came with it off his body. Yes, the situation was dire, but he couldn't help but think that while Tino was back on the ship dying, he was out having sex with another man.

Did Tino think lowly of him now even though the Finn said otherwise?

He hates me…disgusted with me…

Berwald could never run away from what he once was, the stigma haunting him until the day he no longer walked the earth.

The initial joy of seeing those violet eyes open once more faded and gave way to a crushing sense of guilt.

There was nothing more he could do to help the other but watch the rifleman fight the poison within him alone, and he hated that fact. The scene tore at him like razor blades. All of these thoughts and self-loathing led Berwald to miserably carry himself through town with no goal or destination in mind. He rounded a corner here and there, aimlessly wandering by himself on the streets and past some shops, wanting so badly to return to the man he loved but too fearful of being judged by said man for his sins. Against the captain's orders, he did not return to the ship when night fell, a red moon rising in the dark sky above the bell tower.

I should fix the cut on the sleeve of his coat from that knife…Berwald thought idly, hoping that this little act of penance would get him one step closer to earning Tino's love again.

The evening wind was cold and cruel as it howled through the empty streets.

"Hello there again, friend!" An equally chilling voice greeted Berwald from behind.

"…!"

"You've had quite a long day in town today, yes?" Ivan smiled at him gently with his eyes closed. They were only a stone-throw away from each other. "You must be tired, come back with me to the Red Fraction and you can rest there all you like,"

He's been stalking me this whole time?!

Berwald didn't buy into that deceptively generous offer for a second. "No." he answered briskly, his body stiffening and ready to put up a fight. He will never forgive the man for what he did to Tino. He will finish this once and for all. He will kill him if he had to.

Ivan the Terrible opened his violet eyes that glowed in the red moon's light then, raising his regal silver cane. "I insist."

The two took off towards each other at the same time.

The Swede didn't care if he didn't have his steel staff on him, fending himself against the swings from that gleaming cane, keeping his distance from the blade hidden within it. He was able to sneak in a few solid jabs into the infamous pirate after evading a couple of blows.

The wounds from their previous fight were still visible, the shot to Ivan's shoulder from Tino's pistol evident, but that didn't seem to bother the man one bit.

After uppercutting the other's jaw, he heard Ivan giggle.

"Oh you really must hate me to punch me that hard," He grinned, fresh blood running down the side of his mouth from the punishing blow. "I want to see more, Lion of the North!"

Berwald happily obliged him, throwing a barrage of hits that connected consecutively into the other, the gruesome sound of fists against flesh filling the silence of the dark street.

But Ivan got up every time his face hit the ground, and each time he got back up, his smile grew wider and his depraved eyes brighter. It was the same look Tino donned back at Aurora Cove. "More!" he demanded when a kick knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying back. "That's it, friend! Kill me!" The material of his tan coat wrinkled and was stained with dirt and blood from all the abuse its owner was going through, the long scarf hanging loosely on the man now.

Berwald himself was becoming disheveled from the exertion, the blue bandana around his head loose and beige coat spliced here and there from the hidden blade. A few cuts grazed his skin and bled through the material of his black undershirt. He had to end this quickly.

"Brother!"

"Gah!" A sharp pain pierced through the Swede's back before he could even turn his attention to the new voice – two knives lodged into his back, right between his shoulders.

"You really shouldn't interfere, sister."

Thwack!

A solid hit from the silver cane landed on the back of the Lion of the North's skull.

And then Berwald's world went black, predatory violet eyes and the red moon shining above him the last things he saw before his mind slipped into the darkness.

Tino...I'm sorry

"What in the world did he do to you?! Unforgiveable!" The Queen of Blades snarled at the bespectacled blond lying face down in the dirt, her glare as sharp as her knives.

Ignoring his younger sister's overprotective nature and the pain coursing throughout his body, Ivan bent down and hefted his fallen prey over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The fun had to stop for the moment…but it was only the beginning and he was sure he was going to have even more fun now that the Lion of the North was in his possession. "We got what we came here for, let's go."

As the figures cleared out of the street without another sound and with Berwald in tow, Ivan gave Natalya her orders accompanied by a giddy giggle and wicked grin. "Give ReeRee my regards."

They soon disappeared among the fog rolling in from the shoreline into parts unknown.

"…!" Tino finally woke up to the sound of excited chatter coming from the deck.

"Finally, I can get some sleep again!"

"Good riddance!"

"Yeah, but if that bastard comes back, I'll be sure ta give 'im hell!"

The tense air seemed to have lifted from the Draugen and it was as though the very ship was releasing a huge sigh of relief.

All of this baffled the newly-awakened rifleman until from the window in his room he saw a massive ship, slightly larger than the Draugen itself go by with full sails…a bit too close for comfort. The vessel emerged from behind a natural rocky incline near the port they were docked at and appeared to be heading out into open ocean, its sails a deep crimson color. The main body of the ship was painted black with some ends such as the bow and the frame of the windows on the side embossed in gold.

The Red Fraction.

Crash!

Just as the Finn identified the ship and the reason why everyone on board seemed so relieved, a knife came crashing through his window and whizzed past his face before it landed in his wooden door. The Reaper didn't have to inspect the weapon to know who the blade belonged to.

Most likely a parting gift…He didn't give it much thought.

Ivan the Terrible no longer had business with them and he wasn't taken away again. That was truly a blessing.

He tried getting up from the bed for the first time since he has been poisoned. His body felt lighter, no longer weighed down by the foreign substance in his body and all that was left was a small headache. The antidotes worked – he would be well again and had Berwald and the doctor to thank for that. Speaking of which…

Where is he?

It was already mid-afternoon and the Swede was nowhere in sight. He didn't even come by to visit and drop off the meal tray like he usually did when he caught the Finn sleeping during lunchtime.

Something isn't right…

Tino felt it for a while now and was getting worried. He knew the other felt guilty. But there really wasn't any reason for his beloved to feel that he did something shameful or wrong. He never wanted Berwald to resort to that kind of lifestyle again…and yet he was the reason why the man had to sell his body. The platinum blond felt terrible over the whole ordeal and what Berwald had to go through for him. He didn't get a peaceful sleep with these thoughts on his conscience and when the other was gone. Thus, with renewed resolution the recovered rifleman set out to find his beloved and set things straight.

The only problem was, he was nowhere to be found on the ship. For such a large man, Berwald was exceptionally good at hiding. Many of the members on board were relieved to see their top rifleman on his feet again, but were unable to tell him the whereabouts of a certain crewmate.

This sent Tino's heart palpitating.

No, no, no! Did something happen to him while I was asleep?

He didn't have time to beat himself up on the thought before he was off the Draugen and parading through town without his mask on. He searched through the string of people going about their daily lives and visited the common public places in hopes of catching a tall bespectacled blond, but no one matched that profile anywhere he went.

The sun was setting.

A grim thought came to mind and made his blood run cold along with the night's chilling wind.

What if…

No, Ivan wanted him, right? It was only a suspicion that needed to be confirmed. The last thing he wanted to do was chase down the Red Fraction without rhyme or reason. Plus, Berwald was strong; he knew he could hold his own against anyone.

But that's exactly why…

"I'm tellin' ya, I saw him! Ivan the Terrible himself I say!" Against a wall, Tino heard a shop owner complaining to a police officer who clearly thought he was delusional.

"Right, and when did this happen exactly, sir?"

"Just last night! He was fightin' some other big guy," he sighed exasperatingly when the officer barely took down any notes.

"Okay, so why didn't you report this to us as soon as you saw them?" he drawled.

At this the store owner flinched, his mustache twitching from side to side. "I…I was scared …I didn't want them to see me, ya know! I could've gotten killed!...And there was none of you lot nearby!"

"Right…"

But then the shop owner got defensive and accused "There are pirates walking among this town and you folks aren't doin' a damn thing about it!" He looked around them through his thick glasses and saw a figure with a tattered black long coat and beige scarf, pointing an accusing finger at the Finn. "Like that fellow over there! Don't ya think he looks like the Reaper?!"

"Now, now, we can't go around accusing everyone of being a pirate, right?" The police humored the other and turned in the direction he was pointing at, only to have his assumptions confirmed that there was no Reaper to be seen – just a brick wall. "I think you need to take it easy for a while, sir."

Damn it!

Tino knew…he knew it all along! Ivan's words, his interest in Berwald, the fight and the knife at his door…it was so obvious! Yet, he didn't want to acknowledge it. He didn't want to believe in the worst case scenario and that his beloved has been snatched away in the night. It wasn't supposed to be like that! That only happened in the macabre novels he had in his little collection! He was supposed to easily find Berwald after mistakenly passing by him on a street, make up, and head back to the ship and out at sea together again. But his unwillingness and fantasizing cost Berwald his welfare and possibly his life!

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Despite the numbing sensation coursing through his veins and his body becoming heavy from something that wasn't poison, Tino flitted back to the Draugen in record time. By the time he was on the boarding plank, his tan lace-up boots were dragging, but a light giggle escaped his thin lips and haunted the dark town behind him.

I will make him suffer...then I'll kill him…and it'll be oh so slow and painful…

Mathias was displeased. The North Sea King and captain of the Draugen was most displeased. Night has already fallen upon them and his ship was still anchored at the dock. They were supposed to set sail by now, but a certain rifleman and new recruit were both missing. He hated to wait.

The sky outside his window looked nearly like molten lava swirling above them with the way the red moon gave off its crimson light and marred the black clouds around it.

He was thrumming his black gloved fingers across his mahogany table impatiently, rocking back dangerously on his chair and having half a mind to abandon them both when someone approached the double doors to his cabin.

"Captain? Oh captain," A light voice sung through the grand doors followed by a gentle knock.

Then suddenly the door handles rattled violently and both doors flew open to reveal one of the missing crew members.

"Yer late, Reaper!"

"I'm going hunting," the man proclaimed, not a bit remorseful for his tardiness.

"What?" Mathias paused. The other wasn't making sense and the tone he was using was one the Dane didn't hear quite often. The shorter figure continued to waltz his way in towards him at his desk, still shrouded in shadows, a pair of glowing eyes the only thing visible. "Hunting? What? Who?"

"Isn't it obvious, captain?" the Reaper giggled. "I'm going after the Red Fraction…Ivan the Terrible of course!"

"What?!" The North Sea King said again, short on vocabulary at the moment. The audacity of his rifleman was getting on his nerves. Not only did he make him wait, but now he wanted to go on a manhunt for one of the most dangerous pirates in all the seven seas?! Even the Dane knew his limits and did not want to engage the other pirate if he didn't have to. A hand subconsciously went up to his right eye covered by the eye patch; he was still bitter and hesitant from their whole fiasco last time. Last time he nearly lost his best rifleman to that bastard! "Yer outta yer mind, Reaper! Has the Queen of Blades' poison done somethin' to your head?!"

By now his subordinate was right in front of him, separated only by the width of the desk and stepping into the square of crimson light pouring in from the window and red moon outside.

The air in the room suddenly became thick with bloodlust.

One look at the man and the captain was silenced.

The Reaper's eyes bled violet mania, a smile showing too much teeth and too wide on that porcelain face.

Indeed, the man has lost his mind.

"Have you noticed someone missing from the ship, captain?" the Reaper asked innocently, eyes bright and staring intensely at the taller blond…never blinking. "Do you know why he hasn't come back yet?"

Mathias knew the answer to one of those questions and had an idea for the other, but dared not say a word.

"Ivan has him now…whisked him away last night," He made a motion with his hand and his tone was playful, but those words were spat out.

The North Sea King's remaining blue eye widened at this. "That bastard has Ber?! But how…? I told everyone to return to the ship before the sun sets!" He scowled at the other still smiling unnaturally at him. "That idiot blatantly disobeyed me, and now he went and got himself captured!" Mathias cussed, pounding a fist onto the valuable desk.

"We should get him back, shouldn't we?"

The captain was at a loss for words, utterly conflicted. But after a quick assessment he shook his head vehemently. He had to cut his losses, no matter how painful. "No, he isn't worth it…that's what he deserves for going against my orders…" No matter how tempting the Swede was, the captain wasn't going to throw away half his men and even his own life for him. "We'll be headed for-" A hand violently grabbed him by the red and blue striped lapel of his coat and pulled him out of his seat and down to fully meet purple madness.

"I'm so sorry, captain, but perhaps you misunderstood me," the Reaper cooed, never letting his hold on the other slack. The red light filtering in only amplified his murderous intentions. "But I said I wanted to go hunting – I will kill Ivan this time, with or without your approval."

Mathias glared at his subordinate, but it was weak compared to that demented gaze. "Are ya saying-"

"I really think you should reconsider your action, captain," the rifleman smiled sweetly at the Dane. "You should really join in the fun, don't you think?" He kept the taller blond close to him, framing the subject so that it sounded more alluring to the captain. "Ivan ran off with one of your 'belongings.' I want to show that bastard what happens when he steals your treasure like that,"

Now this piqued Mathias' interest.

"Surely you can't let this slide," the Reaper giggled wickedly. "I will strip the flesh right off their very bones, hollow out their skulls, and paint your name with their blood for you, captain."

This declaration of loyalty and bloodshed roused the North Sea King greatly, unaware that such devotion and servitude was actually directed at another in the Reaper's mind.

But the Finn didn't stop there, however. No, he wanted to completely seal this deal. And so with a smirk he added one last bit to motivate his captain. "I understand your reluctance to go after Ivan, I really do…He truly is a frightening foe," he started slowly. "But if you won't go out and retrieve your dear Ber…I will, and claim him as my own," He licked his lips hungrily then, never breaking eye contact with the other. "I'm sure his flesh and moans will be so sweet-"

"Like hell you will!" Mathias batted the rifleman's hand away from him at that last comment, relinquishing the tight hold on his black coat. The gold chain and necklace clinked and the mermaid lamp resting on his desk nearly knocked over from the wild movement. He snarled threateningly at the Reaper as he said "He's my catch, ya hear me?! I won't let ya have him…We're goin' after the Red Fraction immediately!"

Thoroughly satisfied with this response, the shorter male eased himself off the desk and away from the North Sea King, smirking still. "Aye aye, captain."

Mathias glared daggers at the man's retreating back. Yet at the same time, he completely loved the way his Reaper's bloodlust has reawakened. The other's need to kill was greater than ever before and he himself got excited because of it. The prospect of seeing such carnage against his long-standing enemy sent exhilarating chills down his spine. He also noted that although Berwald could now quell the Reaper's fury, his disappearance and harm easily brought about said wrath as well...How incredibly convenient. The blond captain was sure to put this knowledge into practical use. Plus, agreeing on this manhunt would strengthen the rifleman's loyalty to him – he would owe him for this feat.

The only thorn at his side was the last thing the Reaper said. That and this whole situation in general pointed to the possibility that the Swede meant a lot more to the rifleman than he previously had thought. Berwald has become the object of the Reaper's affection.

This didn't sit well with the Dane. Not one bit. He scowled deeply. It raised questions and concerns in and of itself, but he refused to take this lying down.

I won't lose to you…

Mathias could settle with losing something that was his…but having it taken right underneath him by a subordinate crossed the line! Normally he would execute a crewmate for even fathoming the idea, but the Reaper was a rare exception. The man was his best and longest-standing rifleman. The Reaper was a symbol of the Draugen's strength, a stark reminder to everyone as to why they were feared...their best deadman. Next to his own flesh and blood, the Reaper was the one he could turn to and trusted the most.

But not anymore.

This rescue mission would accomplish many things, his own agenda to gain Berwald's favor being one of them. No, there was nothing to worry about - he has the platinum blond beat by a long shot...He wasn't a threat. The Finn still served under him after all, and he certainly wouldn't disobey his captain's orders.

Once the Draugen made a sharp turn left in the direction the Red Fraction was last seen heading in, the Reaper situated himself on the deck and stared out at the sea, hands clutching on the rails.

The crimson moon in the fiery sky above him continued to shine vibrantly, casting its light onto the water and creating rivers of blood to flow on the ocean's surface.

The whole scene was so beautiful and only succeeded in fueling the wrath within the rifleman. He was already seeing so much red, the color reflecting in his amethyst eyes. "Wait for me, Berwald..." he muttered, hoping the wind would carry his message to his beloved.

Once I kill him, I'll find my way to you

A maniacal laugh accompanied the crashing waves below them, echoing throughout the Draugen, into the deep, and beyond the blood red horizon.