Swiftly, the demonic duo made it down the halls of H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. headquarters. They jogged down the corridors of the infirmary, turning the corner to see people gathered outside of a room. Sitting in one of the chairs was their friend, Audrey, staring down at his hands in his lap as fellow operative Charlotte Garou tried to console him. Staring into the window of the room they were camped out in front of was her wife, Amelie. Her usually bored-looking face was covered in concern as she continued to stare, only looking away when the Phantomhives arrived.

"How is he?" asked Alois as the two demons slowed down to a complete halt, addressing all of them and no one in particular.

"He's alive." Said Charlotte, straightening her back in order to address the two. "He doesn't look good, though."

"Shit…" Alois swore and his gaze shifted toward the ground. His husband continued to look to the others for a moment before turning to look into the window as well.

There, Kristopherson lied on the bed hooked up to several machines. The poor man was covered in bandages. They peeked out of his gown, wrapping around his neck and arms. Patches covered his cheeks, no doubt protecting fresh stitches. He was still pale, but his cheeks were now pink as the blood he had lost was quickly being replaced. Sweat covered his forehead as his body struggled to hang on for survival. It was a miracle he was still around.

"What do you think, Amelie?" Ciel asked, keeping his gaze on his friend through the window as he put his hands behind his back. Missus Garou did the same, turning to face the faux-blonde while putting her hand on the windowsill.

"He'll pull through." She said, pausing as her eyes shifted back to the bluenette. "It's going to cost him, though."

"We don't know that, Amelie…" Charlotte butted in. "They still haven't gotten the results back to see if he's positive."

"Doesn't matter. He can't get out of that without changing." Her wife replied. "It's one or the other. You either die, or your humanity does. So far, he's leaning toward the latter."

Ciel said nothing and continued to look forward. This is why he had held off on making friends for so long. Humans are fragile, and in the world of beasts, that isn't an asset. Just how many more would be lost? How many more would lose everything? Their identity, their sense of self, their humanity—all gone. They would have to rebuild it from the ground up again, and some people are not made for such endeavors.

"Ciel?" called his spouse, placing a hand on his back and snapping him back to attention. In truth, the Watchdog could hardly imagine the sort of grim face he was making, and was glad to be pulled out of it. Placing an arm around Alois' middle, Ciel pulled him closer before looking back to their friend through the window.

"This time, we're going to do things right." The Watchdog stated with a small nod. "We're not going to let Kristopherson feel alone. He needs everyone's support."

"Yeah." Alois said sadly while leaning his head on the other demon's shoulder. He looked through the window as well and lamented the circumstances, but also felt a great sense of fear. No one knew what would happen to Kristopherson. How he would take all of this was unknown. He could turn out alright, he could blame them, he could keep them as friends, or he could walk away. The one thing that they absolutely could not allow, however, is another Preston.

Something had to be done. H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. would in no doubt give out orders soon, as one of their agents was attacked, but also a civilian who was contracted by them. This pack could no longer be allowed to exist. There was no doubt that the duo would be the ones to be sent to exterminate or disband them. That was their specialty. More importantly, the organization wouldn't be able to keep them away.

"They'll pay for this." The menace said. "I don't know how, but they're not going to get away with this." His beau nodded in agreement, already formulating the steps they might need to take.

"We'll get started as soon as the orders come in." Ciel replied. "Until then, we're just going to do a little research on this 'pack'."

"They're called 'The Kessler Boys'." Audrey butted in, surprising the group. That had been the first thing he had said since he arrived. Clenching his fists, he furrowed his brow as he continued to stare down at his hands. "We ran into their leader and couldn't get away from him. Then the rest started chasing us."

"Good to know." Ciel replied, his attention now on the reaper. "That sounds like a reasonable place to start. We'll be looking into it."

"Sounds pretty clean cut if you ask me." Said Alois, lifting his head again. "They attacked you, so they're guilty. We go in, get rid of 'em, and we're done."

"Maybe not." The bluenette answered. "We don't know how they're organised. What if their pack serves a purpose?"

"It doesn't." spoke Amelie, cutting into the conversation. "Werewolves don't form 'packs'. Not naturally, anyway. The closest thing to it is a group that mutually agrees to take care of each other. From what we've gathered, this is nothing more than a cult for vile men."

"You know about it?"

"I was showed the files." The wolf-girl said, leaning against the wall. "They've been on H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G.'s radar for a while, now, so they wanted my opinion."

"They're that big of a problem, then…" contemplated Ciel, reaching up to rub his chin. "This has just taken the cake. Integra must be trying to figure out what the best way to go about this is. How would Gehenna react to an extermination?"

"Don't know."

"They should be wiped out." Alois interjected. "If they can't behave in modern society, then they don't belong there. Get rid of them."

"Jim, I know you're worried about Kris…" began the bluenette, reaching up to cup the other's cheeks. He saw as the blonde attempted to blink away the wetness that began to form in his eyes. "We can't just charge into things, however. We have to be careful, or else all of your hard work may be at stake."

"What about Kris?" asked Audrey. "Murder can't solve all of his problems. What's he gonna do when he wakes up? You think he's just going to accept that he's a… a werewolf and just be on his merry way?"

"No. We'll be getting him proper care." The Watchdog stated, turning around to face his friend, letting go of his spouse momentarily. "Counselling, medical care, and the like. He will need help becoming accustomed to a new lifestyle. Amelie, do you think you can help with that?"

"My guess is that they'd order me to, anyway." Answered the wolf-girl. "Sure, I'll help. He should probably also get his hands on that book for when I'm not around."

"Thanks." Ciel replied. "We owe you." The man's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sniffling behind him. The other Phantomhive was struggling to avoid letting any tears fall, but they threatened to spill out onto Ciel's shirt as he pulled the blonde close so that he could hide his face in his shoulder.

"It's okay." The Watchdog said, rubbing Alois' back. "Kristopherson is going to be okay. Let's just focus on making him feel better and catching these thugs, alright?"

Alois said nothing and instead continued to silently cry into his husband's coat. All of this hit him hard. Kristopherson was one of his first friends, and one of his best friends. Even though their relationship together was rocky at the start, they had come to understand and value one another in a way that was new and foreign to Alois. Kristopherson is the other blonde in the group, and had beaten him fairly in being fashion forward. Seeing the Miles like this hurt. It hurt a lot. More than anything, Alois was afraid. He wasn't sure if Kristopherson would wake up, or if he did, would he blame the demons for bringing him into this world of the supernatural in the first place? Alois didn't know. He almost didn't want to find out. The latter was the worst, however, as the thought of the faux-blonde becoming like Preston crossed his mind. He couldn't bear that again. Losing one friend like this was one too many.

"Everything will be fine." Ciel cooed, trying to comfort his beau. "You'll see. We're going to make sure Kristopherson gets better, alright? Right now, though, we need to stay focused so we can do that, okay?"

"Okay…" sniffled the menace, trying to calm himself. It was embarrassing to react this way, but Alois simply couldn't help it. He was afraid for his friend.

"We'll go talk to Integra once you've calmed down." The Watchdog softly replied. "I already have an idea of what she wants us to do."

While this was happening, the Garous simply peered through the window as Audrey turned his head in order to look down at his hands again. Is this how Kristopherson felt? When a friend got hurt while saving him?