Summary: Ciel has escaped the Circus performers with hardly an injury, even after being locked away. Stuck in a room full of his classmates and upperclassman, Ciel faces some unexpected questions. Was the attack somehow planned to get to him? Sebastian and the Undertaker lurking about the hospital doesn't help either...

A/N: being sick has its advantages. I have nothing to do but sit around and write. XD So here's an extra thousand words for you...

HIS MASTER, RECOVERING.

Having finally been transported from the parking lot after the gas attack and installed in the pediatric ward of a very full hospital, Ciel hadn't really expected many visitors yet. He doubted there would be room for visitors. Not to mention, the parents were probably still trying to work out which hospital everyone was being kept in. Unless they used Line… (*1)

Not expecting anyone but the rare nurse to come in with all of the more seriously hurt people to look after, Ciel had been accordingly surprised to see Undertaker pop in. His slow, sudden appearance startled some of the others. Only Violet and Ciel didn't visibly start. Cheslock swore colorfully and actually attempted to get out of bed.

"Hello children. I brought cookies." His sleeves dangled over an old fashioned picnic basket as he scurried from bed to bed, handing each child an individually wrapped cookie shaped like dog biscuits. "And here's one for you, Earl."

"Thank you," Ciel murmured, and looked at the Undertaker with some confusion. "But I'm not an Earl."

Undertaker snickered. "Of course you aren't."

"Oya, Sebastian, I would have thought you'd request a bed next to your young charge. Why hide there in the corner?" Undertaker waved a last bone shaped treat at Sebastian.

Sebastian looked less like a walking corpse now that he had proper bandages and a clean hospital gown. The blood soaked shirt he had been wearing previously was nowhere to be seen. Probably because the gown was not long enough, only Sebastian's faintly stained trousers hinted at significant blood loss.
"Good afternoon, Undertaker. I wasn't expecting you to show up just yet."

Ciel sighed dramatically. The nerve of that demon, showing up even in the hospital. He probably gets off on the thought of all the pain and death, Ciel thought uncharitably.

For their parts, none of the artists seemed to be surprised at a professor's presence at the department school that day.

"You have some nice bandages there, professor. Did you see more action than faulty pepper spray contraptions, then?" Undertaker's grin was crooked, and his tone was playful. "The media is having a field day, chastising police response, department store security and other…private defenders."

"He was shot. He should be dead. Devil only knows why he isn't," Ciel muttered.

Violet raised an eyebrow, while Soma made a noise in protest before adding, "I heard he carried you out, Ciel."

"Now, now, Soma. Be charitable. He's probably experiencing post traumatic stress disorder. If he's feeling vulnerable and weak, we just have to humor him." Sebastian's lips curled into a sly smile.

Ciel felt heat rush to his cheeks at those words. "Am not!" He barely restrained the urge to stick out his tongue.

"Poor Ciel," Soma crooned, instantly sympathetic, which only made Ciel more irate.

Undertaker snickered. "They do say going about a regular schedule is good for the trauma victim." His thin frame shook with suppressed giggles.

"So I should ignore you and go find something sweet to eat then?" Ciel widened his eyes and gave a tiny smile, playing at the 'sweet kid' everyone should be familiar with.

He was fully aware of Violet's gaze on him.

"So he should ignore us all until we have something interesting to say?" Violet commented blandly.

Cheslock sniggered. "So, Undertaker, we don't have to coddle him then?"

Undertaker's smile was back, and he met Violet's gaze with a few small nods. "Mm. But really, do Phantomhives ignore anything?" He turned to Cheslock. "And you ignore him at your own risk. He can have quite a temper..."

Ciel pretended they weren't baiting him, and turned on the television.

Ciel watched the television with disgusted fascination which was more deservingly fixed on an insect; He was determined to ignore Sebastian's and the Undertaker. Predictably, the station was covering the terrorist attack. Ciel flicked the channels to his preferred news program with English subtitles and sat back to watch.

Ciel turned the volume up, but still heard Soma's energetic denial of Violet's critique of Ciel's behavior in the background. "He doesn't ignore you, he's just...uh, quiet. And sometimes grumpy. But you're grumpier, Violet!"

"…Japanese police and special divisions were quick to respond," the newscaster said gravely.

"Soma, quiet," Violet demanded.

Cheslock loomed over everyone, straining his ears to catch every word.

When the culprit's faces were flashed again, the young artists murmured quietly. Undertaker and Sebastian stopped their conversation.

"Just listen," Undertaker suggested.

"—police have made several arrests, though no names have been released at this time. It seems that several defective aerosol spray dispensers prevented the attack from being much more deadly."

The footage showed an aerial view of the department store, surrounded by police cars, ambulances and fire trucks. The people on the ground looked little more than swarming ants.

A brief scene of the bandaged man and Joker being put into police cars, with officers holding a jacket to hide their faces was briefly shown as the anchor continued. "Only one of the floors was exposed to tear gas, with limited numbers of individuals attacked with pepper spray on the lower floors. Japanese police and special divisions were quick to respond."

The footage switched to an official setting indoors, with members of the police on one side, and media on the other. Along the walls, Ciel noted a familiar figure. Only the top of his head was visible, but Ciel recognized his father, unobtrusively in the back row, seemingly deep in discussion with one of the police.

"Ciel," Violet's voice cut through the murmurs of the fashion students. "Isn't that your dad? In the back." Clever as always, Violet was the first to pick up on a detail Ciel didn't want anyone to notice.

"Oooh, it is, isn't it?" Soma leaned forward. "He's got a lot of connections with the police, Mr. Phantomhive…" he blurted.

Ciel frowned at the two of them, and declined to comment.

"How fortunate that the young Guard Pup was there, eh?" Undertaker crooned. "Really, the response was quite fast. Almost like they had some…information."

"Were you really held captive?" Cheslock asked, ignoring Ciel's silence. "Everyone else was just pepper sprayed. Why the hell were you kidnapped?"

Ciel shook his head, feeling all the blood leave his face. He said nothing.

Was that man called 'Father' really referring to me and the Phantomhive family, or was that just shock making me read too much into it? Ciel shivered under his blanket. He felt Sebastian's eyes like a lead weight while trying to swim to the surface.

His thoughts rang around in his head, each one contradicting the one before it.

I wonder who was pulling the strings for these terrorists-

But they couldn't have known I would be there today,

It couldn't have been a coincidence...

How did my dad know to send Bard, Mei-Rin and Finnian?

His eyes slid back to the Undertaker, now talking once more with Sebastian about some mundane school topic.

"I know you're still new, but they really are an amusing lot, these teacher types. Especially Agares. He's quite tame…obedient, really."

Ciel wondered at Sebastian's sudden stillness at that comment, at the subtly long glance he gave the Undertaker.

Something was going on that Ciel couldn't quite understand. Something that involved Sebastian.

What is going on here?

oOoOoOo

(*1)Line, as mentioned back in chapter 10, is a global online messaging service access (primarily) via cellphone or smartphone. You can make groups to contact many people at once, or you can have one on one conversation. It's an app which started in Japan after the 2011 earthquake after people couldn't contact each other because the phone lines were jammed.

Thoughts? :D Comments are better than free-the-chicken soup. :D